As mentioned, it was a long weekend in Canada so I was a lot less attached to my phone than I usually am. So I was surprised to see Jennifer Aniston trending when I dipped in on Saturday and that her name was attached to Jamie Foxx’s. To be honest, my idiot brain saw their two names connected and I was like, holy f-ck, are they dating? Because that was the only reason I could think for them to be trending together. Turns out it’s less likely for Jennifer and Jamie to be dating than it is for Jennifer to step in it like a fool, which is what happened. 

 

Here's a brief summary of the situation – it started with Jamie's post on Instagram, which has since been taken down.  

Apparently Jennifer Aniston liked the post resulting in some dummies telling her that it was antisemitic. Jamie’s post was not meant to be antisemitic. Sharing this video – two parts – which is an excellent explanation of Jamie’s posts and Jamie’s follow-up. Points were made! (Turn down the volume if you're at work cause there are some F bombs here). 

 

It is not this woman’s job to educate white people but she does it very well, and hilariously. 

Anyway, as she said, Jamie apologised, even though he didn’t have to. But the reason this turned into a thing is because Jennifer Aniston decided to tell on herself – unforced error would be an understatement here. 

After being “informed” by the other uninformed white people in her comments about Jamie’s post, Jennifer decided to post what she thought was a clapback. 

 

So in trying to protect her own pristine reputation, she basically threw Jamie under the bus, accusing him of antisemitism when all he was saying was that he was involved in some fake friend sh-t and had been betrayed. That is Big Karen Energy right there. 

And that’s why she was trending, because when the Black social media community realised that she’d pulled this f-cksh-t on Jamie, they told her about herself. 

As noted in that two-part video I posted above Jamie did nothing wrong but he recognised that his words were misinterpreted and even though that was not his fault and he was simply expressing himself through AAVE, he still decided to apologise in the spirit of healing because he listened to those who were telling him that while it was not his intention to be antisemitic, given the rise of antisemitism around the world, and the fact that nefarious agents will seize upon moments like this to spread hate, he chose to be part of a more productive conversation based on learning instead of defensiveness. That is the lesson of intention vs impact. 

 

Jennifer Aniston? 

She jumped into a conversation she wasn’t invited to, and in the process put Jamie Foxx on blast, which only amplified the misinterpretation of his words – which amounts to disinformation, by the way – and has now disabled comments on IG and has NOT followed in Jamie’s example with a public apology holding herself accountable for her errors. 

There are several possible takeaways here. Black people are upset with Jennifer Aniston. She was quick to address the misplaced concerns initially, but she doesn’t seem, at least not yet so far, to be all that quick in addressing the disappointment from the Black community. If we’re generous, maybe that’s because social media was already so heated over this issue, she and her advisers thought it best to just not go there. That said, she clearly didn’t extend the same generosity to Jamie when she was getting accused of liking his post, so that also poses another question about her priorities. 

And this is why people are calling her a Karen. Because she only responded initially because people were attacking her character. Jennifer Aniston didn’t want to be misunderstood by the internet mob. Jamie Foxx has been misunderstood by people who do not understand Black culture but still kept the conversation open so that we can learn more about each other and ourselves. That is allyship. Where’s the allyship from Jennifer Aniston in standing with him in solidarity in an effort to promote better awareness of all cultures? 

 

Next… let me go back to a photo that went viral a couple of weeks ago. The photo was posted by Kristen Bell and included a LOT of celebrities, including Jennifer. 

It went viral at first because of the celebrities. But then it got more viral because it sparked a debate about its whiteness and the lack of diversity among this friend group. I’m bringing this up now because it speaks to narrowed awareness and how many group chats Jennifer and her friends are part of where there are diverse voices, one of whom could have told her… 

Girl, Jamie Foxx was talking to the Black community, when was the last time you did?