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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a holiday to honor the legacy life and legacy of Dr. King and his daughter, Bernice King, called out rapper Sexyy Red for using the holiday to clout chase “in a way that does not convey what we know to be true about his service and sacrifice.” Following an exchange on X (née Twitter), Sexyy Red apologized, backed down, and deleted her “distasteful” and “deplorable” posts.
The posts in question were two photos shared by Sexyy Red that are still floating around on X. In one she can be seen holding hands on the dance floor in a night club. In the second post, Sexyy Red shared an image depicting her at the front of a picket line standing in front of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others while Red is holding a wad of cash and wearing a revealing red dress.
Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, took exception to these posts and called them out before Janae Wherry deleted them. She wrote “This is intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable, and disrespectful to my family and my father, who is not here to respond himself because he was assassinated for working for your civil and human rights and to end war and poverty. Please delete.”
In a follow up post, Bernice King responded to the criticism she was receiving from some after demanding the ‘Ah Thousand Jugs‘ rapper delete the ‘deplorable’ and ‘distasteful’ posts from X. She wrote:
Please don’t project your thoughts onto me. I don’t believe Sexyy Red to be a “degenerate,” “ghetto,” or “trash.” I have spoken out in the past about the use of and comparison to either of my parents to denigrate other people.
I just don’t understand this type of use of my…
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) January 21, 2025
Some individuals shared screenshots of Sexyy Red’s posts with their thoughts, highlighting the complete lack of awareness in thinking this was an appropriate thing to share on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
This is quite unreal. The fact that Sexxy Red thought this was a good idea shows how completely disconnected so much of rap/hip hop culture is from black history. It was shamefully distasteful. But, what would expect from someone whose entire brand is disgusting? pic.twitter.com/eBnveYJnGx
— Anthony Bradley (@drantbradley) January 22, 2025
She would later apologize on X, sharing the message “You ain’t wrong, never meant to disrespect your family my apologies. Just reposted something I saw that I thought was innocent 🙏🏾.”
You ain’t wrong, never meant to disrespect your family my apologies. Just resposted something I saw that I thought was innocent 🙏🏾 https://t.co/3rGQreJNOT
— Sexyy Red (@SexyyRed314_) January 22, 2025
You would think that after FSU Football’s infamous MLK Jr. Day gaffe on January 21, 2019, that EVERYONE on social media would be sensitive toward what they post on the holiday. FSU shared this and got ridiculed by everyone everywhere:
Evidently, Sexyy Red didn’t see FSU’s mistake back in 2019 or if she did she didn’t learn anything from it. But she did delete her posts and apologize to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s daughter, Bernice King, and hopefully this will be a learning experience going forward about the do’s and don’ts of clout chasing.