Madonna has divided opinion after she shared a video of her son dancing to Michael Jackson to “honour” George Floyd, who died after he was pinned to the ground by his neck by a police officer.
In the clip, David Banda is seen dancing to Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us, which the singer posted in “tribute” to Floyd.
The 46-year old’s tragic death on Monday once again raised the issue of police brutality towards Black people and has led to several nights of unrest in Minneapolis and outcry across the world.
In a caption for the video, Madonna wrote: “Brutal murder travels around the world my son David dances to honour and pay tribute to George and His Family and all Acts of Racism and Discrimination that happen on a daily basis in America.”
The video and accompanying message was labelled “the worst tweet of all time” by retired American professional basketball player Rex Chapman.
“‘Come dance in the kitchen for racism’ is a weird take. To Michael Jackson? And other things,” he added.
Many others agreed with his sentiment…
Others defended the singer, with some highlighting the fact that she had been one of the first celebrities to condemn the police responsible for Floyd’s death…
Following Floyd’s death, Star Wars actor John Boyega tweeted: “This just burns.
“Seems to be a never ending cycle. The murderers need to be charged severely. Even in the face of death this man was given zero empathy.”
He followed this with a second tweet, saying simply: “I really fucking hate racists.”
On Thursday, the British actor doubled down on his comments, telling any racists who follow him or consider themselves fans of his work to “fuck off” during an Instagram live-stream.
Since Floyd’s death, four police officers have been fired, with the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, saying that being Black “should not be a death sentence”.
