Rihanna Racial Scandal

Eva Hoeke, editor of Dutch magazine “Jackie” has been fired resigned in the wake of an “unfortunate” article that incensed hip hop diva Rihanna.

The magazine ran a piece referring to Rihanna as “the ultimate n*ggab*tch.” They wrote:

“She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate n*ggab*tch and displays that gladly, and for her that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare.”

The Jamaican reference was apparently annoying too. Rihanna is from Barbados.

In a pubic Facebook apology, Hoeke stated that the import of the article was an ill-advised joke. “… I hope that you all believe there was absolutely no racist motive behind the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang — you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts — but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it.”

Rihanna was not impressed with the apology and sent Eva this tweet:

“@evajackie I hope u can read english, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!! You ran out of legit, civilized information to print! There are 1000’s of Dutch girls who would love to be recognized for their contributions to your country, you could have given them an article. Instead, u paid to print one degrading an entire race! That’s your contribution to this world! To encourage segregation, to mislead the future leaders to act in the past! You put two words together,”

“@evajackie with the intent of abasement, that made no sense…”N*GGA B*TCH”?!….Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you…F*CK YOU!!!”

Much earlier this year, Shemar Moore, who spent his early years in The Netherlands, appeared on The Talk and pretty much indicated that the Dutch really have no concept of racial prejudice, saying he never encountered it until he moved to the USA. They probably have no clue how deep the wounds of prejudice run on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. We think it was a misguided use of slang that wasn’t totally understood.

Granted, they should have checked out the full import and possibility of offending anyone with an American before printing it, but it still could have been a teachable moment like, don’t use slang in any other language than your own. Ultimately, we guess, the choice whether to be offended or not lies with the person being talked about.

UPDATE: OMG !!

Jackie magazine’s publisher Yves Gijrath has retracted former editor-in-chief Eva Hoeke’s apology wherein she claimed that it was meant as “a joke.”

“… it most certainly was not a joke.” Gijrath said, adding that it was an interpretation (of style) and Hoeke should have said, ‘We did not realize this interpretation is such a touchy subject. We never meant any harm and offer our sincere and upright apologies’.” He further said that they have concluded that Hoeke’s credibility was undermined, whatever that is supposed to mean. What it means to him is that the magazine will not print a retraction in its next issue and it “will not be silenced.”