Dr. Jackie Walters is in hot water after a clip resurfaced of her saying Black women are often more “dramatic” while pregnant. The “Married to Medicine” star also said Black women are not taken seriously because they “cry wolf” during pregnancy.
The Bravo reality star appeared on co-star Dr. Heavenly Kimes‘ YouTube channel on April 15, 2020, to discuss women’s health, and her comments have resurfaced.
During the discussion, Dr. Jackie said that African-American women are “a bit more dramatic,” which prompted Dr. Heavenly to disagree.
“Sometimes, as African American women, we’re a bit more dramatic,” she said. “And that you go to the doctor and you complain and complain and you complain, and you’re not taken seriously because you cry wolf the entire pregnancy.”
Dr. Heavenly interjected to say, “That ain’t me, boo. But I don’t know what you’re talking about, but go ahead. “I didn’t say you,” Dr. Jackie continued. “I just said as African American women, we want to also make sure you’re being serious with your doctor and not playing games so we can take you off work. Because then, if we see you 25 times in the pregnancy, it’s hard to believe that there’s a true problem when there’s a true problem.”
Former “Married to Medicine” star Buffie Purselle, who appeared on the show’s seventh season, called out the good doctor for her comments on Dec. 19 on Instagram and called Dr. Jackie a “villain.”
Purselle shared a clip of Dr. Jackie with the caption, “When are y’all gonna see #drjackie for the #villian that she really is? @bravotv y’all should have asked #drsimone to do that interview about #blackmaternalmortality with #kamalaharris #married2med #buffiepurselle #bravotv #marriedtomedicine.”
“She said this herself,” noted Purselle in the video. “If all y’all elder OB/GYN are fans out there, scroll on because you done drank the Kool-Aid, the tea, the poison, the whatever, and ain’t nothing I’m gonna say gonna get you to see the light of day, so you can scroll on… because I’ve actually met the b—h. Okay?”
Purselle went on to condemn Bravo for giving Dr. Jackie a platform. The former reality star also claimed that Dr. Jackie didn’t have any Black patients unless they were rich.
“First of all, Jackie don’t even have no regular Black clients, allegedly,” she said. “If you a rich Black woman, you can go to her ass. She don’t got no damn Medicaid.”
Purselle also shamed Dr. Jackie for shaming Black women and noted that her aunt died during childbirth. She said that her aunt hadn’t been feeling well beforehand and complained of headaches and pain, but she was not believed by her doctor, despite having blood pressure “through the roof.” Her husband took her to the ER the next day, and she died. The baby survived.
“Stupid s—t like what the elder OG/BYN just said kills people,” she continued. “It also puts this burden on Black women that we can’t be human, that we have to be sharp as iron and strong as steel, even while bringing life in this world… You think if a Black woman doctor thinks that, that folks that don’t look us don’t think that? When you all gonna call her on her s—t?”
Fans reacted to the clip after it was shared by The Neighborhood Talk on Instagram. One fan replied, “Dr. Jackie has a nice nasty spirit about her every time she comes on screen. They can honestly replace her with someone else on the show.” Another fan wrote, “As a black woman who had a near death experience dealing with preeclampsia this is sad to hear a black doctor yet a woman say this.”
One fan replied, “This the real Dr. Jackie, not that character she plays on Married to Medicine. She sounds like how yt OBGYN doctors bash their Black female patients…Wasn’t she just speaking with Kamala Harris abt how Black women aren’t taken seriously in medical spaces?”
Dr. Jackie recently had a discussion with Vice President Kamala Harris about the Black maternal mortality rate in the country. Black women are three times more likely than white women to die from childbirth in the United States.
Amid the recent backlash, she issued a statement on her Instagram story, claiming that what she said was “taken out of context.”
“Recently, a clip from a nearly 2 hour video was taken out of context to make it appear that I, somehow, take lightly, what I have advocated for concerning the devastating problem facing the Black maternal health crisis,” Dr. Jackie wrote.
The 65-year-old has been a practicing OB-GYN since the 1990s. She said her “life’s work” has been dedicated toward attempting to “rectify the issues that devastatingly impact Black maternal mothers versus our counterparts.”
Dr. Jackie this isn’t an apology at all. pic.twitter.com/iBHQ9SdXC7
— TheKingofReads (@TheKingofReads) December 21, 2023
Dr. Jackie’s patient list includes many celebs, such as rapper Da Brat, Eva Marcille, “RHOA” star Kandi Burruss, and singer Tamar Braxton, whom she educates to advocate for their own health.
“As we continue to face medical mistreatment and gaslighting, my intention with the broader conversation was to ensure patients enter their pregnancies armed with information and tools to effectively communicate their needs with their doctors to ensure a positive outcome,” she continued.
She concluded her statement, by maintaining that she will continue to “fight for the lives of Black mothers and babies.”
