Mary J. Blige on Burger King Ad Backlash: I Was 'Crucified' for 'Mistake' (VIDEO)
Mary J. Blige's Burger King commercial, which many deemed offensive because of the songstress's singing about chicken sandwiches, was finally discussed by the diva herself Thursday on the HOT 97 radio station.
Mary J. Blige spoke on the Burger King commercial, calling the unfinished version that leaked a "mistake," and admitting that the resulting backlash from fans and friends alike "crushed her for two days."
"I just felt like there was no need for me to say anything, because everyone was crucifying me and going crazy," she told Angie on the Angie Martinez show. "I pulled back and watched … [because] it's just something that I thought would've been a great branding opportunity. … [The] Burger King, chicken and buffoonery, and it just broke my heart."
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The unfinished commercial featured Blige crooning about the ingredients of a chicken sandwich, and many voices in the African-American community felt it promoted negative stereotypes. Fans were especially outraged, as the R&B artist's music is usually empowering, and Burger King pulled the ad soon after.
"I understood the laughter and the jokes and the stuff that was happening- you're supposed to do that when something like that happens- but the thing that hurt me is when people were starting to say vicious, negative thing that didn't have [anything] to do with that," Blige explained. "It exposed everyone and everything in my life and showed me who my friends are."
She went on to tell Martinez about how she refuses to endorse products which she herself doesn't use or promote- a big reason why she has turned down far more lucrative deals with alcohol companies and Proactiv.
However, she did apologize to fans, and thanked those like rapper Busta Rhymes and others who reached out to her in the midst of the turmoil.
"I got up and I kept going," she said. "I want to apologize to everyone that was offended or thought I would do something so disrespectful to our culture. I would never do anything like that purposely."
