WEBVTT HAVEN’T BEEN A HIT. ♪ A HALLOWEEN TRIBUTE TO THE KING OF POP. >> I DIDN’T NEVER KNOW IT WAS A THING. EVER. SHE PUT COVERGIRL BROWN MAKE UP ON HER FACE. MADELEINE: NOW, FACING BACKLASH FOR BLACKFACE. >> IT IS 2018, AND WE SHOULDN’T THE HAVING TO CONTEND WITH THIS ISSUE AND YET WE DO. MADELEINE: IT COMES ON THE HEELS OF MEGYN KELLY’S CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS, DEFENDING THE IDEA OF WEARING BLACKFACE ON HALLOWEEN. BUT QUICKLY APOLOGIZING. MEGYN: I WANT TO BEGIN WITH TWO WORDS, I’M SORRY. MADELEINE: DESPITE THE NATIONAL ATTENTION, HOLMES SAYS SHE NEVER KNEW THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG WITH HER EMPLOYEES COSTUME. >> I SWEAR I’VE NEVER HEARD OF BLACKFACE, SWEAR. MADELEINE: ELROD ARGUING YOU CAN’T PLEAD IGNORANCE. AND SAYS BLACKFACE IS A REMIND OF DEEP HISTORICAL RACISM AND THE HUMILIATION AFRICAN AMERICANS FACED. >> THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE, THEY MIGHT THINK THESE THINGS ARE HARMLESS, BUT I THINK THOSE WHO DO, THEY DON’T HAVE A FULL GRASP OF HISTORY OF RACISM IN THIS COUNTRY. MADELEINE: DESPITE DEATH THREATS, HOLMES SAYS SHE’S UNPHASED. >> I SLEPT VERY WELL LAST NIGHT. MADELEINE: BUT HAS DELETED THE VIDEOS FROM HER PAGE AND WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE NEXT YEAR’S HALLOWEEN COSTUME. >> I’LL NEVER PAINT MY
Salon faces backlash after employee wears blackface for Michael Jackson costume
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Updated: 11:17 AM CDT Oct 29, 2018
An Anderson, South Carolina, salon is facing extreme backlash after an employee's choice of Halloween costume. Keysha Holmes, the owner of Holmes Hair Salon, said that every year, she goes all out with her employees come Oct. 31. This year, they dressed up as Michael Jackson. She said she intended for it to be a tribute to the King of Pop. “It was just for fun,” Holmes said. “It’s Michael Jackson, it’s a costume. They sell that stuff at Halloween stores.”However, many say that one employee was wearing blackface. Holmes defended her actions and said she had never heard of blackface before. “I didn’t never know it was a thing. Ever. She put Covergirl brown makeup on her face,” Holmes said.Jalen Elrod, local civil rights activist and candidate for Greenville NAACP president, told WYFF News 4 you can’t plead ignorance. “There are some people that might think these things are harmless but I think those who do don’t have a full grasp of history of racism in this country,” Elrod said.This controversy comes on the heels of NBC TV host Megyn Kelly losing her job over her comments about wearing blackface on Halloween. On Friday, NBC announced that it was canceling “Megyn Kelly Today.”
ANDERSON, S.C. — An Anderson, South Carolina, salon is facing extreme backlash after an employee's choice of Halloween costume. Keysha Holmes, the owner of Holmes Hair Salon, said that every year, she goes all out with her employees come Oct. 31. This year, they dressed up as Michael Jackson. She said she intended for it to be a tribute to the King of Pop.
“It was just for fun,” Holmes said. “It’s Michael Jackson, it’s a costume. They sell that stuff at Halloween stores.”
However, many say that one employee was wearing blackface. Holmes defended her actions and said she had never heard of blackface before. “I didn’t never know it was a thing. Ever. She put Covergirl brown makeup on her face,” Holmes said.
Jalen Elrod, local civil rights activist and candidate for Greenville NAACP president, told WYFF News 4 you can’t plead ignorance.
“There are some people that might think these things are harmless but I think those who do don’t have a full grasp of history of racism in this country,” Elrod said.
This controversy comes on the heels of NBC TV host Megyn Kelly losing her job over her comments about wearing blackface on Halloween. On Friday, NBC announced that it was canceling “Megyn Kelly Today.”
