Singer-songwriter Janelle Monae is using her platform of celebrity to help fight police brutality and the ills of systemic racism in America, but it seems Monae’s views on the controversial subjects were too much for the producers of NBC’s ‘Today’
The Atlanta artist appeared on Today on August 14 to promote her Wondaland Records compilation album Eephus. The project’s latest single is the racially charged “Hell You Talmbout”, which features the names of victims of police brutality. Janelle concluded the performance with a fiery speech.
“Yes Lord! God bless America!”, Monae shouted.
“God bless all the lost lives to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced…”
Cameras cut from Janelle’s performance to one of the show’s anchors.
The move made it appear NBC’s morning show to oppose the Black Lives Matter movement. However, Billboard reports a source at “Today” says Janelle Monae’s performance was cut short due to time and nothing else.
“The show went to a hard commercial break after “Tightrope”, which ran a couple minutes over time. The performance was not intentionally cut off — the show is programmed for that hard commercial break at the same time every day,” the source revealed.
Whether cutting Janelle Monae’s performance was or wasn’t intentional, the incident hasn’t stopped the R&B star from spreading her message. After she left Today, Monae and her Wondaland artists including Jidenna and Deep Cotton were seen protesting on the streets of New York City.
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-Jonathan Hailey(@JaySpeakEasy_)
