{"id":379888,"date":"2018-10-06T13:10:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T12:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/twitter-unrelenting-in-takedown-of-bette-midler-for-hot-take-rt-us-news\/"},"modified":"2018-10-06T13:10:24","modified_gmt":"2018-10-06T12:10:24","slug":"twitter-unrelenting-in-takedown-of-bette-midler-for-hot-take-rt-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/twitter-unrelenting-in-takedown-of-bette-midler-for-hot-take-rt-us-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter unrelenting in takedown of Bette Midler for hot take \u2014 RT US News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Actress and singer Bette Midler has been verbally flayed online after an ill-judged hot take stating: \u201cWomen are the n-word of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Midler, 72, is widely known as both an environmental and civil rights activist as well as a self-declared ally of marginalized groups in society. However, her past good behavior did not spare her from the baying Twitter mob Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Midler initially defended the tweet by drawing attention to the cause-du-jour, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, while also claiming she was invoking the sentiments of Yoko Ono, who infamously penned a song with her late husband John Lennon called \u2018Woman is the N***er of the world<\/a>\u2019, in 1972.<\/p>\n

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Yoko was wrong then, and you’re wrong now.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sofia Quintero (@sofiaquintero) October 5, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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@BetteMidler<\/a> I see you have decided to double-down on this insensitive, ridiculous madness. Your arrogance and deliberate disregard for the experiences of Black women and by extension The Black community as a whole is breath-taking. Your privilege is showing! https:\/\/t.co\/yUNGB69WUx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nina Turner (@ninaturner) October 5, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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It wasn\u2019t long before the tidal wave of backlash forced her into an embarrassing climbdown mere hours later in which she deleted the offending tweets and apologized.<\/p>\n

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The too brief investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh infuriated me. Angrily I tweeted w\/o thinking my choice of words would be enraging to black women who doubly suffer, both by being women and by being black. I am an ally and stand with you; always have. And I apologize.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) October 5, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Once again, however, backlash was immediate, intense and unrelenting. She was then accused of \u2018whitesplaining\u2019 as a means of damage limitation.<\/p>\n

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Nothing like a white woman telling another white woman that her offensive Tweet, which invalidated black suffering, \u201cdidn\u2019t invalidate black suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a classic example of whitesplaining.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) October 5, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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