Quinta Brunson‘s recent comments on her proximity to white people have fans reacting as if they’re looking directly into the camera during an Abbott Elementary episode.
It looks like Barbara isn’t the only one who confuses people!
The creator and star of the multi-Emmy-winning series took fans by surprise when she stopped by Amy Poehler’s podcast Good Hang with Amy, and had her very own Keke Palmer “Sorry to this man” moment with some notable names in pop culture.
For those unfamiliar with the iconic phrase, it became a viral meme after Keke appeared on Vanity Fair’s Lie Detector segment, where she was asked different questions about her life, as well as identifying different pictures.
She was asked if her Nickelodeon character True Jackson VP was a better VP than former US Vice President Dick Cheney, but when they showed a picture of him, Keke drew a blank.
“I hate to say it. I hope I don’t sound ridiculous. I don’t know who this man is. I mean, he could be walking down the street; I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this man.”
Well, this new clip of Quinta is also going viral after she said, “I don’t know white people.” The revelation came after Quinta’s best friend and former BuzzFeed colleague, Kate Peterman, sent in a question for Amy to ask Quinta. She jokingly wondered if Quinta finally realized that Bon Jovi (the band) and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi (real name John Bongiovi Jr.) are rooted in the same person.
Theo Wargo / Getty Images, Gutchie Kojima/Shinko Music / Getty Images
And while she seemed to hint that she does know the significance of the two, she was never really familiar. “See, I don’t know white people,” Quinta said. “I know you. I know Tina Fey. I know white people in comedy, okay?”
“I just don’t know some people. I understand the name Phil Collins. I don’t know what Phil Collins looks like.” Amy then playfully added, “Sorry to that man.”
Quinta praised Keke for that moment for being “so on point,” because that’s how the comedian says she moves through life. She reiterated that if the celeb isn’t in the comedy world, she probably won’t know who they are.
Amy wondered if it was a generational thing, deeming it a form of “gentle rebellion” because she noticed younger people (millennials and younger) don’t really feel the need to know the names of the pop culture icons of the past, where as the older generations (boomers and older) were told they needed to, especially if they were working in Hollywood.
As the conversation continued, it was made clear that Quinta did not know the difference between Bon Jovi and Jon Bon Jovi, so Amy broke it down for her.
“The thing is, I’m supposed to know this, but then I’m supposed to deal with people who can’t tell me and Keke Palmer apart.” She also wondered how people could say John Bongiovi with ease, but saying her two-syllable name Quinta poses so much difficulty for some people.
The Philadelphia native doubled down on her comments, revealing that she would “mix up” Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts for the longest time. This is no longer an issue for Quinta, who is now really close with Sandra. Amy playfully suggested that Quinta might suffer from face-blindness, to which Quinta laughed and agreed.
“There was no reason for me, as a young girl in Philadelphia, to understand the difference between Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts. There was no reason for me to know the difference.”
Well, you know the internet loves a good soundbite, so it didn’t take long for a clip of this conversation to go viral, with Quinta’s “I don’t know white people” as the focus. One tweet received more than 70K likes, 4K reposts, and over 200 comments.
But there was one thing fans couldn’t look past: Quinta was married to a white man:
For those who don’t know, after three years of marriage, Quinta filed for divorce from sales manager, Kevin Anik, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
But, like a lot of things on the internet, I think people were focused too much on the “I don’t know white people” soundbite without realizing the context of that comment. Quinta wasn’t saying she doesn’t know any white people in the world. She was referring to white celebrities and white figures in pop culture.
It reminds me of the term Blackfamous. It was coined by Michael Harriot of The Root to symbolize how some well-known Black celebrities are household names in the Black community but not necessarily mainstream in white culture. So, in turn, Quinta was saying that these notable white celebs like, Jon Bon Jovi, weren’t commonly talked about while she was growing up in Philly, so she didn’t really know him or others.
So, the same shock you might have felt when hearing she didn’t know that New Jersey rock star or how she’d mix up Sandra and Julia, would be the same devastation she’d (and a lot of other Black people) would feel if you didn’t know names like Tichina Arnold, Nia Long, Loretta Devina, Wood Harris, or Lorenz Tate. Being mainstream is subjective because it all comes down to the media you consume, which is why it’s beautiful to diversify.
It’s actually more common than you’d think, and most of us have all dealt with it, whether it’s a generational thing or an exposure thing…we’ve all been there.
To learn more about Quinta, check out her full, insightful, and hilarious interview on the Good Hang with Amy podcast below:
The post Quinta Brunson Said She Doesn’t “Know White People” And People All Came To One Hilarious Conclusion — But I Think They’re Missing Her Point appeared first on BuzzFeed.
