Da Brat apologizes for saying Black sperm donor looked like ‘Jiminy Cricket’
In sharing their choice of a non-Black donor, the rapper and her wife Jesseca “Judy” Harris Dupart didn’t expect anyone to take offense.
After multiple defenses made on social media by wife Jesseca “Judy” Harris Dupart regarding Da Brat’s comments on choosing a non-Black sperm donor, Da Brat offered her own.
During a Thursday appearance on the “Tamron Hall” show, the rapper, who is expecting her first child with Dupart, addressed the backlash the couple has been receiving following a recent episode of their reality show “Da Brat Loves Judy.” In the episode, viewers are taken behind the scenes of the stars’ process of seeking a sperm donor.
Shocked and disappointed to learn they had only one Black donor to choose from after narrowing down their options to viable matches, Da Brat and Dupart were also unimpressed, with Da Brat jokingly comparing the donor looks to “Jiminy Cricket.”
Can Da Brat catch a break?
“I didn’t think it would be offensive to anybody,” Da Brat said when Hall asked why they didn’t cut that clip out. “I cracked jokes about almost everybody that I saw; that one just happened to make it in the show. I wasn’t trying to be mean or say anything negative about Black people.”
If her comments offended, Da Brat said, “I do apologize. But it was a joke between me and my wife and the doctor. Like, we joke like that; we play around, so it wasn’t meant to be offensive in any way.”
Since the episode aired, Dupart and Da Brat told Hall they had received lots of hate online from furious viewers, including someone wishing for them to miscarry.
“It was extreme hate,” Dupart said. “I’m kind of used to some of it from being on social media, but when it comes to our child — something that we worked really, really hard for — I felt like if nothing else at this time, this should be at least an educational moment so our people aren’t as ignorant so other different women don’t have that situation.”
Dupart and Da Brat’s struggles to find a Black sperm donor are shared by many other Black women exploring IVF. As previously reported by theGrio, recent reports have shown that less than 2% of sperm donors at cryobanks are Black. This figure can be largely attributed to the rigorous screening process that only accepts one in every 1,000 of all applicants across all races. Three generations’ worth of medical history, a semen analysis, infectious disease testing, and criminal background are all considered, ruling out most potential donors.
Da Brat stressed to Hall how much she and Dupart wanted a Black donor.
“We’re Black; we wanted a Black donor. So it was just misconstrued and taken way out of context,” she said.
TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. TheGrio’s Black Podcast Network is free too. Download theGrio mobile apps today! Listen to ‘Writing Black’ with Maiysha Kai.
