Actress LisaRaye McCoy is facing some severe backlash from Black Twitter after she recently defended colorist remarks made by a white radio show host.
During a recent episode of “Cocktails With Queens” with co-hosts Claudia Jordan, Vivica A. Fox, Syleena Johnson, and McCoy, the women discussed an incident in which former “The Morning Bull Show” host Rob Lederman was heard making colorist comments. While sharing his dating preferences with his fellow white co-hosts last week, Lederman compared the skin tones of notable Black women to toaster settings.
One comment Lederman made was that he would “never go to a Serena Williams level, but I’m very comfortable with a Halle Berry level.” He later added, “I need a little bit of mulatto still coming through.”
Lederman’s comments offended most of the “Queens” panel, but not McCoy. The “Players Club” star, who is of lighter tone, pushed back, stating, “Wait a minute. What I heard was an opinion. I heard that he’s saying that he won’t go as far as a dark-skinned Black woman.” She continued, “He’s comfortable with going with the color of a Halle Berry. What’s wrong with that?”
Co-host Johnson tried to explain how Black women may find those remarks tactless, telling McCoy, “He said I like ‘em more mulatto. That’s what this man said. To me, that is colorism and discriminatory. That’s a fool.” McCoy defended her stance, stating they were only given a small portion of the conversation and that he was just expressing what type of women he was into.
“Everybody gonna get caught up now because I think everybody is gon’ be so sensitive,” she continued. “And ain’t gon’ know what to say and how to say it, and it’s going to take the fun out of everything and everybody gon’ get slapped with lawsuits and defamation, and it’s gon’ to be tedious and ain’t nobody gonna be able to talk about nothin’.”
While Johnson may have been more collegial in her attempt to show McCoy how Lederman’s comments were hurtful, social media, on the other hand, was quick to call for the removal of the show altogether.
One Twitter user wrote, “Abolish @foxsoultv QUICKLY!” He added, “Like every day Claudia Jordan, Lisa Raye or Vivica are on there saying dumb sh-t.”
Another person wrote, “Lisa Raye defending a colorist. She such a whack b-tch. Really hate to see it.”
“I want Lisa Raye to stop talking she always misses the mark,” a third expressed.
A fourth commented, “I just have to laugh at people like Lisa Raye who had so much criticism for Lil Nas X’s video but saw Rob Lederman’s racist comment, comparing Black Women, to toast, as a preference.” They added, “What a clown!”
There were a few folks on Instagram who understood where she was coming from.
“Everyone has a preference. His delivery was disgusting. So yes, he could’ve stated his preference without name calling and the toaster thing.”
“You cant be mad at someone because of what they pefer some like em slim some like em big whats the big deal.”
McCoy has yet to address the comments she made on the show.
