Rashida Jones brilliantly made her way through an awkward red carpet moment at the 2015 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards when one reporter commented on the actress’s “tan” and “tropical” complexion.
Viewers are still debating whether or not TNT’s Danielle Demski knew much about Jones’ family tree—the comedic beauty is the daughter of record producer Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton.
That means Jones is “ethnic,” as she had to remind Demski on Sunday.
Jones made her way up to Demski to talk fashion and was met with an awkward “compliment” by the reporter.
“You look amazing, gorgeous,” Demski said.
Jones replied with a simple, “Thank you so much” and that’s when things got awkward.
Demski continued to rave about the 38-year-old actress’s appearance with a specific focus on her skin complexion.
“You look like you’ve just come off like an island or something, you’re very tan, very tropical,” she said.
The problem? That’s no tan. Just the wonders of melanin at play.
“I mean, you know, I’m ethnic,” Jones responded without missing a single beat.
Both reporters tried to laugh the moment off but the moment certainly didn’t go unnoticed.
“That awkward moment when @IAmRashindaJones had to remind a reporter that she’s black,” one user tweeted.
Another user inserted a virtual “sigh,” before adding, “People are so ignorant.”
For Kendra Griffin, a biracial 24-year-old Georgia native who is often told she is “not Black” despite having a Black mother, the comment struck a personal note.
Social media users suggested that Demski should have known who Jones’ famous father was but Griffin believes the reporters absolutely knew about her famous lineage.
“It’s not about not knowing who her father was. They knew,” Griffin said. “It’s about not acknowledging her as Black….Her having a Black dad was just the last thing on their minds. Black-ness just wasn’t a part of her identity to them.”
Another Twitter user agreed, writing, “If you think they didn’t know who her father was you’re crazy” in response to another user who claims the reporters should have done their “homework.”
Either way, the biracial star moved on with the interview without making much fuss of the “tan” compliment, and she hasn’t made any public comments about it yet.
Jones has talked about her racial identity in the past, however, and made it clear that she embraces both sides of her heritage.
