Over the past couple of months, Clueless star Stacey Dash has said some debatable things, most of them revolving around the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.
In mid-January, Dash called for the elimination of Black History Month and the BET Channel.
“We have to make up our minds,” the actress-turned-pundit said on Wednesday’s Fox & Friends. “Either we want to have segregation or integration. And if we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards where you’re only awarded if you’re black.”
READ MORE: Stacey Dash: There should be no Black History Month or BET Channel
This isn’t the first time Dash has made controversial comments around race. She famously referenced Martin Luther King when she endorsed Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president in 2012, and a year before that, tweeted her support of Paula Deen, who was involved in a scandal involving her use of the N-word.
So it was quite a surprise when Dash showed up on the Oscars stage alongside host Chris Rock.
“It’s hard to get a job, and that’s the truth out there for black actors,” Rock said before Dash came onstage. “But let me tell you some good news: the Academy has taken steps to fix this problem, and that is why it is my honour to introduce the director of our minority outreach program. Please welcome Miss Stacey Dash!”
“I cannot wait to help my people out. Happy Black History Month!” she declared to near-silence from the audience. Then she walked offstage.
Rock quickly moved on with the ceremony after the joke fell flat.
Dash took to her blog to explain her cameo.
“When they added ME to increase the diversity, I’m sure many black people rolled their eyes,” she wrote. “I’m not ‘black enough,’ they say. But guess what? I’ve heard that all my life. I would rather be a free thinking, black than a cookie cutter black who thinks – and votes — just like all my friends.”
“Yes, I’m the actress from the South Bronx who has always dreamed of winning an Oscar,” she continued. “But God has a great sense of humour and this is my first encounter with one of my dreams of destiny. Bringing diversity to Hollywood… not merely because of color, but politics as well. (After all, different colors of skin is an easy kind of diversity. Ideological diversity is much harder, because it forces everyone to come face to face with actual beliefs. Hollywood needs BOTH.)”