Earlier this week, the Los Angeles rapper Blueface seemed to have just as many people praising him as he did offering criticism.
Because on Dec. 23, he posted a video of himself on top of a vehicle tossing money to people in Skid Row, a section of downtown Los Angeles where a lot of homeless people can be found. But Tiffany Haddish is among those who said what Blueface did was a good thing, and she explained why.
The rapper’s Twitter post, which has now been viewed 955,000 times, shows people moving frantically to collect the cash he threw, some falling to the ground.
“The season of giving,” Blueface captioned the video.
Afterward, some said what the “Thotiana” creator did was dehumanizing to the homeless, and they let it be known.
“This is so disgusting and degrading,” one person tweeted.
But others saw it differently and said what Blueface did was generous, not wrong.
“I had an opinion about this and then I asked myself, self how much money did you give? The answer was none. Carry on Blueface,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Blueface throwing money out for the homeless on Skid Row in LA. It’s a beautiful thought, but a handful of them are about to go and overdose,” a third person tweeted. “In that scenario, hot food for all of them would of been a more sensible idea considering skid row has 2500 heroin and crack addicts.”
Haddish weighed in on the video on Christmas Day when TMZ approached her in Los Angeles at the Laugh Factory. And she said what Blueface did is a tradition for gang members, because the rapper is reportedly a member of L.A.’s School Yard Crips gang.
“Those people that’s saying it’s dehumanizing and degrading obviously haven’t lived in the hood,” she said. “I’m from South Central Los Angeles. I’ve been around a lot of gangbangers, dope dealers and things like that, and they do often give out money, sometimes turkeys, toys, things of this nature.”
“They’re charitable, they’re being charitable,” Haddish continued. “But for my entire life, I have known a lot of men with money that are affiliated to jump on top of their best vehicle and make it rain.”
She then asked if those same people who are offended by what Blueface did have a problem with strip clubs.
“Are they saying it’s degrading when the men are in the club and they’re throwing money and the women gotta pick that money up off the ground with no clothes?” asked the “Nobody’s Fool” actress. “I mean, these people are clothed and they’re living on Skid Row in tents. Like, come on.”
“It would’ve been degrading if he was throwing out ones,” she added. “That’s degrading. But if he’s throwing out hundreds, he’s possibly making it so somebody can get a room for the night to stay in so they don’t have to be in the cold. You don’t know what blessing that might’ve helped somebody with.”
