Actor Terry Crews has come under fire after tweeting about the need to stay positive, but arranging the words to spell out a racial slur – apparently looking to reclaim the term from opponents angry about his critical view of BLM.
The entertainer and former NFL athlete took to Twitter on Tuesday morning with what appeared to be an uplifting message, “conquer our own negativity,” however the post was written to spell out “COON” as an acronym, immediately catching the internet’s attention and driving Crews into the trends.
Following the post, one supporter pointed out the slur to Crews, asking why he would employ an “outdated term used to tear each other down,” prompting the actor to explain he was merely ‘making lemonade out of lemons’ thrown at him by detractors – having suggested previously that critics had applied the same denigrating term to him.
I agree. That word is horrible.
But I've learned to catch the lemons thrown at you, Make lemonade. Then make lemon bars. Make a lemon scented hand sanitizer, sell the rinds in the spice aisle for bbq lemon pepper wings then take the seeds and grow more lemon trees https://t.co/ejRyrogSYV
“The word Coon has been thrown at Terry a lot recently and he’s turning it from a negative to a positive, I understand you don’t agree with the acronym but he deserves a little respect for standing by his values 100%,” one user said in Crews’ defense.
The tweet was nonetheless contentious, with many netizens expressing shock at his open use of the offensive term.
Did I just see Terry Crews tweet something that makes the acronym C.O.O.N?!!? pic.twitter.com/PdX5HlC2P7
Others were more harsh in their criticism, some even implying Crews is now a Trump supporter, while some commenters were simply exasperated by the steady stream of celebrity melodrama forced into their timeline.
Crews became something of a lightning rod of controversy after airing skepticism about the Black Lives Matter movement last month, voicing concern the project could “morph into black lives better” while urging for social equality across the board, regardless of “race, creed and ideology.” Critics apparently took that stance as outright opposition to BLM, however, with many piling attacks on Crews for aiding “white supremacy,” some hurling racist terms of abuse, including “coon” and “uncle Tom.”
While many of the reactions to Tuesday’s tweet about positivity were outwardly negative, Crews appears to be making the best out of the drama, poking fun at the controversy in another post.
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