While attending the 3rd annual Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective, Jordin Sparks, LeToya Luckett, Erica Campbell, and more celebrated honorees Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey, but also spoke to Hollywood Unlocked about the latest DEI criticism (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).
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In recent months, we’ve seen several companies from entertainment to white collar companies take the initiative in wanting to push forward their DEI efforts and make more DEI hires. However, the recent DEI programs and opportunities being upheld are also being attacked by critics online.
One of those critics included the CEO of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, who tweeted in December 2023 that “DEI must DIE.” Musk wrote, “DEI must DIE. The point was to end discrimination, not replace it with different discrimination.” Since his tweet, it’s been reported that DEI references at Tesla have been erased after its CEO’s critical comments.
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Meanwhile, at the recent Grammys Black Music Collective event, celebrating Black musicians, Jordin Sparks, LeToya Luckett, Erica Campbell, Major., Flavor Flav, Davido, and even Hollywood Unlocked CEO and founder Jason Lee fought back against Musk’s criticism as well as others who have looked down upon DEI and its objective.
Speaking with us on BMC’s black carpet on Thursday (February 1), Sparks said in order to push DEI forward, “It starts with people who believe that those spaces deserve to be taken by people who are good enough to do it, no matter what they look like. People have to have the courage to stand up, whether they’re like me, whether they are someone sitting watching this live, or people who are at the top, the people at the top have to have the courage to talk to the other people at the top. We have to call each other out. And it’s not ‘I hate you,’ and all this stuff. We should be able to talk to each other about this … and have these conversations without getting defensive, and saying, ‘Oh, well, you’re a hater.’”
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Sparks addressed Musk’s controversial tweets and added, “To say such a blanket statement is a little misleading. ‘Cause what do you mean exactly about that? ‘Cause I can’t imagine anybody would be silly enough to say that they don’t want anybody to have an opportunity.”
LeToya Luckett told us, “First of all, you can’t silence what God has created and put together, and what he has purposed. And as much negative talk that’s going around, it’s all immune to me. I don’t feed into it and I hope that the rest of the creatives will do the same. But, we have to fight.”
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Erica Campbell echoed, “For African Americans in this country, we have shown time and time again that greatness cannot be suppressed. No matter what you attempt to do, we rise, we gather, we strategize, we get in office, we vote, we make a difference, we speak loud, and we are heard. It’s a fight, but it’s a fight worth having. So, I believe, like we always have, we will rise.”
Hollywood Unlocked CEO and founder Jason Lee also spoke on the importance of Black ownership. He said, “Most brands nowadays target Black-targeted companies, not Black owned. We’re a Black-owned business, and so we believe in DEI, why? Because we are DEI.”
Lee also highlighted the Recording Academy and its Black CEO, Harvey Mason Jr. He said, “We not only are here at the Black Music Collective, which was created to honor the Black music creators, but we are also on the [Grammys] red carpet this year, with a built-out set. Which shows the amount of progress we have made, in fighting for inclusion on the carpets. So, the people like us and our peers that do this work are important, this year, we’ll be able to come full circle and show that DEI is not only important, but the culture can only live when it’s invited into spaces that need to learn how important we are.”
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