Mike Huckabee
Fox News commentator and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee unleashed a rant about entertainers Jay-Z and Beyonce in his latest book that many have slammed as racist, sexist, inaccurate and “WTF-worthy.”
Huckabee slammed Jay-Z as a “pimp” for “exploiting” his wife, referred to Beyonce’s music as “trash” and said their performances together were nothing short of “foreplay” that needed to be saved “for the privacy of their bedroom.”
Huckabee’s new book titled “God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy” will be hitting the shelves soon, and it’s already garnered a lot of attention for his decision to dedicate quite a bit of space in the book to sharing his opinion of Jay-Z and Beyonce.
For those still trying to figure out why the presumed presidential hopeful for the Republican Party even decided to comment on the couple, it’s his way of slamming President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s character because they are friends with Beyonce and Jay-Z.
That alone is an interesting choice and train of thought on Huckabee’s behalf, but his criticisms of the superstar couple are really what has most people scratching their heads.
“Does it occur to him that he is arguably crossing the line from husband to pimp by exploiting his wife as a sex object,” Huckabee wrote of Jay-Z.
He then took aim at Beyonce, writing that she, “must have been confused when she agreed to humiliate herself by performing in a way that prompted this comment from author Charlotte Hays …’Honestly, I didn’t want to watch Jay-Z and Beyonce’s foreplay.’ ”
Both Hays and Huckabee were referring to Jay-Z and Beyonce’s performance of “Drunk in Love.”
The comments seemed to be proof that Huckabee actually knew very little about the couple he was trying to rip apart.
“The only thing more awkward than a politician doing a grip-and-grin with a movie star or a musician whom they clearly know nothing about is the sight of a candidate fulminating about the pernicious influence of a mass cultural figure and getting his target disastrously wrong,” a contributor for The Washington Post wrote of Huckabee’s comments.
Huckabee’s claims that Jay-Z is trying to “pimp” out his wife ignore the fact that Beyonce was a successful artist before she even met Jay-Z, and many would argue that her star power and popularity actually trump that of her husband’s.
Both artists today stand as incredibly successful entities on their own with their own array of successful business endeavors that are completely independent of their relationship.
Not to mention the fact that Beyonce has been embracing her sexuality in music for years even when it was still her father who was managing her career.
Suggesting that Jay-Z is “pimping” her out now that she is essentially her own manager creates the image that Huckabee simply finds it hard to believe that a woman could be responsible for her own career choices.
“Jay Z is ‘arguably’ a pimp because his wife is empowered enough to embrace her sexuality. OK. Because if she wasn’t married to Jay Z she’d have to follow her real career dreams and become a knitting instructor at Boise Community College. Sure,” Jezebel’s Rebecca Rose quipped.
Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Others have also argued that there shouldn’t be anything negative about the entertainers showcasing the sensual side of their marriage.
Alyssa Rosenberg, a blogger for The Washington Post, referred to a comment Huckabee made in 2013.
“We declare marriage, family, and the presence of both a mother and father to be irrelevant and no longer significant, even for the child’s well-being,” he said back in 2013. “And then we lament the lack of responsible fathers involved in the raising of their children.”
According to Rosenberg, what Jay-Z and Beyonce’s sensuality on stage represents could actually be quite wonderful for the perception of marriage in today’s society.
“Then, there’s Huckabee’s repetition of a classic mistake, letting himself be guided by his prudishness,” Rosenberg wrote. “Knowles-Carter’s confident enjoyment of her own sexuality might be unnerving to conservatives who think such things are ‘best left for the privacy of her bedroom,’ even when it comes to art. But as I wrote earlier this year, to throw a fit about the specter of Jay Z and his wife talking about their sex life in public is to throw out a great opportunity to promote marriage not just as a source of ‘joy, and love, and mutual support’ …. But of flirtation, fun and terrific sex.”
Simply put, Huckabee’s attacks can be considered misguided and ignorant at the very best.
Meanwhile, E! News has found yet another “inexplicable” decision by Huckabee — the title of Chapter 10 in the very same book.
“As for Huckabee? Well, perhaps we’ll let his foolishness slide considering Chapter 10 of his book is titled, ‘Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner,’ ” E! Online’s Alyssa Toomey wrote. “Seriously, we can’t make this stuff up.”
