Recent reports have sparked confusion regarding Janet Jackson’s remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris. A man claiming to be Jackson’s manager, Mo Elmasri, issued an unauthorized apology on her behalf after the singer questioned Harris’s racial identity during a September 21 interview with The Guardian.
In the interview, Jackson suggested that Harris is “not black,” stating, “That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.” This comment has been linked to right-wing conspiracy theories about Harris’s racial background. Jackson further claimed that Harris’s father is white, despite the reporter clarifying that Harris identifies as both black and Indian.
Following the backlash, Jackson’s representatives clarified that Elmasri is not her manager; her actual manager is Randy Jackson. They also emphasized that Jackson’s comments misrepresent Harris’s identity.
Kamala Harris’s mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, was Indian, while her father, Donald J. Harris, is Jamaican. In her book, The Truths We Hold, Harris notes that her mother was dedicated to raising her daughters as black women.
Amid the ongoing discussion, Jackson expressed uncertainty about whether the U.S. is ready to elect a woman of color as president, describing potential transitions of power as “mayhem.”
