Ray J’s recent meeting with former U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t sitting well with fans on social media.
The “Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood” star reportedly met with Trump on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at his Mar-a Lago Club, in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss creating specific initiatives, including job creation and small business development that would benefit entrepreneurs and young professionals, as well as various political issues the concerning the former reality star, Page Six reported.
The 41-year-old, whose full name is William Ray Norwood Jr., told the outlet that he’s “always admired and respected” Trump’s “business acumen.” He added, “Our conversation was about job creation, encouraging small business development, and how Information Technology plays an important role in the future of our economy.”
He shared that the two agreed on “how important an educated workforce is, as well as the critical need of developing of young people,” telling reporters, “I’m ready to get started now!”
The Raycon founder’s meeting and photo-op with Trump ruffled the feathers of many of his fans who took to their social media platforms, where they blasted the R&B crooner. That includes one Twitter user who commented, “The amount of Black male celebrities that cozy up to Trump is disgusting. Weakest links. Ray J is a clown! Brandy don’t deserve that embarrassment by proximity.”
The photo made its way to various blog sites that reposted it on their Instagram accounts, where it received further verbal lashings from critics, including one person who questioned, “Is this a joke?” A third person asked, “How the f-ck is he going to create jobs when he’s looking for one his damn self? 10000 bankruptcies filed and trying to avoid prison time.” That person added, “ Yeah I want his advice.”
Award-winning journalist Jemele Hill noted the presence of another controversial political figure, writing, “It’s the Kim Jong Un photo in the background for me.”
“I was ok with not seeing this man in my TL, and also not being reminded that there’s still black ppl whole heartedly supporting him,” someone replied.
The meeting comes a little over two years after the star was rumored to be in “secret talks” with Trump to secure a pardon for Suge Knight. However, the entrepreneur denied the story, which was published by the Daily Mail. “People make up a lot of different stories about a lot of different things,” Ray J told Variety at the time. “But that story right there, I jumped on top of it because I didn’t want it to spread.”
It’s unclear whether the backlash will affect their follow-up meeting that’s reportedly already been scheduled, where they will allegedly put into action some of the ideas they discussed in their initial meeting.
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