Mary J. Blige is apologizing for singing about fried chicken in a Burger King commercial that was widely held as an embarrassing, stereotypical poke at African American culture.
The R&B diva told New York’s Hot 97 radio deejay Angie Martinez that she did the commercial because Burger King executives promised her it would be shot in an “iconic” way and she did not expect the finished product to come out the way it did. “I would never just bust out singing about chicken and chicken wings,” she insisted.
Blige apologized to “everyone who was offended who thought I would do something that was so disrespectful to our culture.” She added: “I would never do anything like that. I thought I was doing something right.
The fast food chain has since apologized for the advertisement, which was part of a campaign featuring Blige, soccer star David Beckham and rocker Steven Tyler in a series of commercials that paired the stars with items on Burger King’s menu. Blige’s commercial was leaked on Burger King’s YouTube channel and subsequently pulled, with officials citing a “licensing issue.”
