Janet Jackson apologizes for shocking comments about Kamala Harris’s race

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Washington Bureau Chief

Janet Jackson has issued an apology after claiming that Kamala Harris is not Black, echoing an outrageous, false claim made by Harris’s White House rival, Donald Trump.

The singer, 58, whose brother Tito passed away aged 70 last week, made the surprising comments about the Vice President when asked how she felt about the US having its first female Black president.

In a new statement to Buzzfeed, Jackson’s manager Mo Elmasri said: “She deeply respects Vice President Kamala Harris and her accomplishments as a Black and Indian woman.

“Janet apologizes for any confusion caused and acknowledges the importance of accurate representation in public discourse. We appreciate the opportunity to address this and will remain committed to promoting unity.”

The “All for You” singer had previously said: “She’s not Black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian. Her father’s white. That’s what I was told.”

Jackson then admitted she hadn’t “watched the news in a few days” but was told somebody had “discovered” Harris’ father “was white”.

Harris was born to Shyamala Gopalan, an Indian cancer researcher and Donald Harris, a Black economics professor from Jamaica, in 1964.

Gopalan died of cancer aged 70 in 2009. Donald Harris, 86, is a professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University.

Jackson’s comments echoed those made by Trump during a speech at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago in July.

The former president claimed: “[Harris] was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black.”

He questioned: “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

Trump added: “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went – she became a Black person. I think somebody should look into that too.”

Harris has spoken openly about how she grew up appreciating both backgrounds. She attended Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, DC, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, one of the first Black sororities in the nation.

In 2021, she recalled her father taking her and her sister to see Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1978 – her first concert ever. “We sat up top in the back of the theater and, as I watched the performance, I was in complete awe,” Harris told the Washington Post at the time. “To this day, I know the lyrics to nearly every Bob Marley song.

“My father, like so many Jamaicans, has immense pride in our Jamaican heritage and instilled that same pride in my sister and me,” Harris told the outlet. “We love Jamaica. He taught us the history of where we’re from, the struggles and beauty of the Jamaican people, and the richness of the culture.”