Singer Cher apologized on Saturday after being criticized for suggesting on Twitter that she could have prevented George Floyd’s death if he were there.
Floyd, a black man, died in police custody last year. The video showed former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white and is currently on trial for Floyd’s death, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes while he was handcuffed and repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe”.
On Friday night, the 74-year-old singer and actress said in an excluded tweet: “I was talking to Mom and she said, ‘I watched the policeman’s trial that killed George Floyd, and I cried.’ I know this is going to sound crazy, but … I kept thinking … maybe if I had been there … it might have helped. “
The tweet drew online criticism accusing the pop star of having a “white savior complex” and potentially behaving in a selfish way that does little to resolve systemic issues like racism.
“@Cher, I say that with respect: white savior complex. Stop,” a Twitter user I wrote.
Another Twitter user I wrote: “We, as white women, just need to be careful not to become the star of the story. I’m sure you didn’t mean it, but it may sound like that.”
Cher initially doubled her posture after criticism, saying to fans: “You don’t know what I did, who I am or what I believe in. I CAN, HAVE AND WILL … HELP.”
But, she said on Saturday, after speaking to her friend, “Karen”, she realized, “You can piss people off and hurt them by not knowing everything that is NOT appropriate to say.”
“EVEN IF I upset AnyOne in the Blk community,” she said on Twitter.
The apology came in the middle of the second week of testimony at the Chauvin trial, who was charged with third-degree murder, second-degree murder and second-degree murder in Floyd’s death.
Floyd’s death sparked protests across the country against systemic racism and new calls to end police brutality and racial inequalities.
