Amber Heard made a tone-deaf joke about ICE checkpoints, and we need to be smarter about showing solidarity
Amber Heard has been a vocal and active participant in the resistance for a long time, but in light of President Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy, the actress took a misstep with this very insensitive tweet about immigrants. Heard tweeted on July 3rd to warn her followers of an ICE checkpoint near her home in Hollywood, California — but her appalling word choice did not go over well, with many calling her tweet racist at worst, tone-deaf at best.
Here’s what Heard tweeted:
"Just heard there’s an ICE checkpoint in Hollywood, a few blocks from where I live. Everyone better give their housekeepers, nannies and landscapers a ride home tonight..."
Reporting the fact that there is an ICE checkpoint in Hollywood might have actually helped some people, but adding a racist and stereotypical “joke” — if that’s what she thought it was — about “housekeepers, nannies, and landscapers” was 100% unnecessary. She has since deleted the tweet, but not before Twitter weighed in. Most are shocked by her insensitivity, while others think she attempted poorly thought-out satire meant to take aim at her celebrity peers.
are…are you trying to be humorous, woke, or serious because i honestly can't tell@realamberheard pic.twitter.com/UPVoafujfV
— Gina A. 🤷♀️ (@hellogines) July 3, 2018
Knew you meant well… But sounds like something Trump might say. Ha
— Travis Wade (@traviswade84) July 3, 2018
damn amber u think this sounds woke huh
— cupid (alleged) (@clownpulp) July 3, 2018
She wasn’t warning the nannies and housekeepers. @realamberheard was warning her celebrity peers who don’t mind saving a few bucks by paying illegal aliens slave-wages. https://t.co/avEsu2P06w
— RAM (Richard Armande Mills) (@RAMRANTS) July 3, 2018
I can see where you were going but somewhere along the way you took a wrong turn. Delete this sis
— WA The Nails On The Cross? (@AndiSachs) July 3, 2018
Heard has not apologized but appeared to defend her statement with the following two tweets.
With this human rights crisis being so politicized, it is hard to make a simple statement w/out it being used to distract from the real issues. Its hard for everyone to not be negatively affected by this subject n some way. pic.twitter.com/nZ0PrMet4G
— Amber Heard (@realamberheard) July 3, 2018
"With this human rights crisis being so politicized, it is hard to make a simple statement w/out it being used to distract from the real issues," she wrote. "Its hard for everyone to not be negatively affected by this subject n some way."
On Sunday, July 1st, Heard and a handful of celebrities protested outside the Tornillo detention center at the Texas border in the name of keeping families together. Hopefully Heard understands how insensitive her tweet was — and that we really don’t need any extra distractions during this humanitarian crisis.
