Regina King fans are unhappy with what they saw after a resurfaced video showed a white actress questioning the Emmy winner about her ancestry.
A 2017 clip from Chelsea Handler’s self-titled Netflix series found its way onto people’s radar after a TikTok user shared part of the 47-minute conversation online.
In the episode titled, “My Dinner: My American Experience,” the comedian invited King, Jennifer Garner, Rob Riggle, Mary McCormack, and Dan Savage over to discuss their “roots, patriotism, religion and modern America’s complexities,” per the descriptive overview.
To start things off, the “Ray” actress boasted about how much she took pride in being an L.A. native.
“I grew up here in L.A., born and bred. One of the few people that are born and bred in L.A., so that’s a, I think a very cool thing,” King said. “I kind of wear it on my chest very proudly because so many people say, ‘Oh L.A. is this, and L.A. is that.’ and I’m like, ‘No, you’re not from L.A. so you don’t really know it.’”
Garner then interrupted King and asked, “But, do you know where your ancestors are from?”
The 52-year-old confirmed that she’s aware of her ancestry, stating, “We’re part of the triangle slave trade.” She continued noting that several individuals from her family tree were from “Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Senegal.”
King then explained that both of her parents are from the South, but met each other in California. “To this day, I’m totally grateful my mom left. My mom was the one that was like, ‘I am f—–g out of this b—h and I’m going to see what else is out there.’ And she came to L.A.”
The 55-second clip was soon shared on Twitter, where fans seemed to find Garner’s question distasteful and rude. One person wrote, “Oh I see why Ben left her a–,” referring to the actress’s ex-husband Ben Affleck.
Another person penned, “My blood instantly boiled. Regina answered that with so much grace, and poise because chiiiii….”
“Jennifer Garner, a white woman from TX, asking an African American woman where her ancestors came from because Regina said she is a LA native is completely racist and disgusting. Regina is better than me. It would have gotten REAL NASTY had she asked me that at this dinner table,” read another comment.
One Twitter user appeared to understand Garner’s question and wrote, “I went and started watching this episode and it’s called the American experience and literally everyone is getting asked how did there parents get to America and where they came from.”
Despite fans’ outrage six years after the episode’s release, neither King nor Garner have publicly addressed the incident.
