While Viola Davis was killing the 10 p.m. slot on ABC Thursdays on “How To Get Away With Murder,” People magazine thought it would be cute to call her a maid. They were wrong.
Black Twitter was on the case when People decided to take attention away from Viola’s new show, where she plays a high-powered, cut-throat attorney, who is cultivating a new generation of defense lawyers. It’s a weighty, powerful role that Viola knows how to play with all of the nuances it requires.
Those that love Viola or “Scandal”—or pretty much anything that Shonda Rhimes touches—have been waiting very impatiently to see what the show would bring to ABC’s roster. They got their first taste tonight, and they were not disappointed. We’re not going to post any spoilers here, if you haven’t seen it, but we do suggest you head over to Hulu catch up.
While TV viewers were busy soaking up all of the glory that “How To Get Away With Murder” supplied and clutching their pearls, People reminded everyone of her role as a maid in “The Help.” Viola did a fantastic job in that film, and her performance earned her a SAG Award. That wasn’t the focus tonight, though.
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Of all the roles that People could have recalled, it wasn’t lost on readers that they chose to poke fun at her past playing a maid just as she was portraying a lawyer. These are two careers that couldn’t be any farther apart on the spectrum, but it
When fans saw the shade, they immediately commenced to open a can of digital whoop a*s n Twitter. People quickly yanked the tweet from its page pretty quickly, but they must have forgotten that screen capture is a thing and that Black Twitter had already sounded the alarm. Print media has been coming for Viola and Shonda all week, so their supporters were ready for another read. Scroll down to see how they got People together.
Typical. I knew @peoplemag would delete that tacky tweet but baby, tweets don’t delete. Bloop. Y’all trash. pic.twitter.com/CO0gqwZRb8
— Fatty Kardashian (@LesaMonroe) September 26, 2014
@peoplemag You is dumb. You is irrelevant. You is exposed. — Sabrina Whitemank (@sabrinaconnects) September 26, 2014
.@peoplemag is like “maybe if we delete it, people won’t remember it.” WRONG. #Screenshots
— PrestonMitchum (@PrestonMitchum) September 26, 2014
Some intern @peoplemag is about to activate #BlackTwitterVoltron and regret everything. Forever. — Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) September 26, 2014
Racism in 140 characters. Congratulations, @PeopleMag. You win Scum of the Day Award. https://t.co/7Cx2LKjW8S pic.twitter.com/PUUUdPS6vs
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) September 26, 2014
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I really think that these publications enjoy trolling black people for publicity. NYT tried it, now @peoplemag is on the bandwagon. — Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) September 26, 2014
wtf @peoplemag. Do you expect Meryl Streep to shout “The Dingo Ate My Baby” in every scene or do you accept that wasn’t her only role?
— WhatILove (@WhatILuv) September 26, 2014
Some white folks are so upset the technical jim Crow era is over it’s obvious @peoplemag is bothered by Viola being anything but a mammy — ✨Sirius✨ (@__Stellaaaar) September 26, 2014
Regardless of what BW do there will always be those who will try to remind us of what they consider as “our place”, just like @peoplemag did
— Bougie Black Girl (@BougieBlackGurl) September 26, 2014
The dragging of People magazine will commence in 10 minutes. We now return you to How To Get Away With Murder, already in progress. — U Can’t Sit With Us (@xicacha) September 26, 2014
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You Tried It: People Magazine Calls Viola Davis A Maid During ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ Premiere was originally published on hellobeautiful.com