Mary J. Blige has reflected on her controversial Burger King commercial, stating the backlash toward it “deeply affected” her.
The 55-year-old singer was a part of a 2012 advertisement for the fast food chain where she sang about the brand’s Crispy Chicken snack wraps, listing the ingredients to the tune of her song, “Don’t Mind.” When a preview of the advertisement was shared on Burger King’s YouTube channel, it was met with immense criticism, including claims that it perpetuated racial stereotypes.
Blige looked back on the controversy during a recent interview with TV personality Scott Evans, who asked her: “Are you in a place where you can yet laugh about that Burger King commercial?”
“Um, no,” she responded. “I’m not because I would never laugh at that. Because my true, honest fans did not think that s*** was funny. The whole way that s*** went down was wrong.”
She continued to criticize the commercial, adding, “The way they shot it was wrong. It was set up to make exactly what happened in the press happen like that. It’s still not a laughing matter to me because I was deeply, deeply affected.”
The “Family Affair” singer said that while she “learned a lot” from the controversy, it’s “still not f***ing funny.” She went on to describe how “confused” her fans were by the advertisement.
“The people who were like, ‘What’s going on?’ And I didn’t really know what was going on,” Blige explained. “Everybody dropped the ball, and I’m holding everything. That was a learning curve, but still not funny.”
Blige said that while she was “getting clobbered for no f***ing reason” over the advertisement, it showed her “just how fickle” the entertainment industry is.
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“It showed me who my friends were,” she concluded. “A lot of my so-called friends are not around anymore. I was like a disease to people. Nobody wanted to be affiliated. This is where I learned I go where I’m celebrated at, because they were treating me like I was a disease or something.”
The Independent has contacted Burger King for comment.
A preview of the advertisement was posted on Burger King’s YouTube account in 2012, before it was met with immense criticism and deleted. Blige then released a statement about the controversy to TMZ, saying, “I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence.
“Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip. I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw go out.”
Burger King confirmed to TMZ at the time that the commercial was released early, “before all of the licensing and final approvals were obtained.”
The fast food chain added: “We would like to apologize to Mary J. and all of her fans for airing an ad that was not final.”