Gabrielle Union is responding to Stacey Dash’s opinion that U.S. television network BET promotes segregation.
Dash questioned the black-oriented network’s very existence last week, saying it lies to black people.
When asked about Dash’s comments Monday at the Sundance premiere of “The Birth of a Nation” Union first replied, “Who’s that? Who’s Stacey Dash? Is she like related to Dame Dash? Was she on Roc-A-Fella (Records)?”
READ MORE: Stacey Dash keeps it up, now says BET Channel ‘lies to black people’
She went on to say, “I heard of a crazy lady once, maybe last week but I don’t know what her name is. Yeah, it’s like why there is a need for (her movie) ‘The Birth of a Nation’ and why there is a need for the Country Music Awards and the ALMA Awards.”
“If you don’t see yourself reflected in mainstream awards, you tend to create your own. And until there’s no longer a need for that I celebrate the ALMA’s the same way I celebrate the Country Music Awards and the same way I celebrate the BET Awards and the (NAACP) Image Awards which, you know, we’ll all be at in a couple weeks. The more that we focus on inclusion and a true representation of this country, I think that crazy lady will have less to say”
Dash’s comments stemmed from a “Fox and Friends” interview last week when she was asked about the lack of black nominees for Academy Awards.
READ MORE: Stacey Dash: There should be no Black History Month or BET Channel
The former “Clueless” star said people need to make up their minds between segregation and integration, “and if we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the (NAACP) Image Awards, where you’re only rewarded if you’re black.”
Dash then wrote on her website that BET lies to black Americans by telling them the rest of America is racist. “And they’re absolutely mortified that someone like me – and independent-thinking black woman – dares call their bluff.”
Union has a TV series on BET called “Being Mary Jane.”
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