In a video posted to social media, Beauvais spoke out against the conspiracy theories that have been targeting her community, following Trump’s claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating dogs and other pets.
Garcelle Beauvais is speaking out following the recent conspiracy theories being spread about Haitian immigrants.
The Haitian actress and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star took to social media Sunday to share her thoughts following the debate between former President Donald Trump and president nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in which Trump repeated and spread baseless conspiracy theories that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating dogs, cats other pets.
Trump brought the bizarre and false claim to the national debate stage while discussing U.S. border control and immigration.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” he proclaimed, to which Harris replied, “What? Talk about extremes!” The moderators fact-checked and debunked the claims. Since then, however — and despite city officials also repeatedly debunking the claims that have put an unwanted spotlight on Springfield — Trump’s VP pick, Ohio Senator, JD Vance Vance has doubled down.
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Speaking out against the conspiracy theories that have been targeting her community, Beauvais said she decided to come forward in an effort to help quell these “dangerous” and “disgusting” claims.
“Staying silent in the face of racism and hate is something that I refuse to do,” she explained. “This past week, the lies that have been spewed about the Haitian community — about my community — have been disgusting, deeply hurtful and dangerous.”
An immigrant herself, Beauvais was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti, and moved to the U.S. when she was 7. While it’s become a political issue, she argued that this is much less about politics and more about “humanity,” telling her followers, “we must condemn this kind of hatred, this kind of racism, for anyone.”
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Beauvais — who spoke out as the conspiracy theories have even led to bomb threats and immigrants in Springfield reportedly feeling unsafe — maintained the pride she’s felt as a Haitian immigrant all her life, adding, “coming to America, working hard, that’s what we do.”
“Coming from gratitude,” she continued. “And I will not sit by and let people talk about my community in any way they want for their own gain.”
Speaking in both her native tongue and English, Beauvais urged her followers to vote, stressing that that’s the only way to evoke change and stop this “madness” from continuing.
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“The power we have is to vote, to register and vote, and stop this madness, this chaos,” an emotional Beauvais added. “We’re supposed to be uplifting each other, from our leaders to our neighbors. This has got to stop… we can’t just sit by. Register to vote. We have 50-something days. Go out and vote. We need to stop this chaos.”
The post was met with lots of love from Beauvais’s RHOBH castmates and the Bravo world alike, Andy Cohen commenting, “It’s about HUMANITY. Thank you @garcelle,” and her former co-star, Crystal Kung Minkoff writing, “Supporting you and your community ❤️❤️.”
Her The Jamie Foxx Show co-star, Jamie Foxx, commented as well, leaving behind three red heart emojis on the post.
Beauvais is the latest celebrity to speak out following Trump’s unsubstantiated claims, with John Legend, who grew up in Springfield, Ohio, taking to social media last week, to shut down the rumors both Trump and Vance were spreading about the influx of immigrants to his hometown and instead encouraged kindness, as he touched on American dream so many immigrants look towards and are working for when they come to this country.
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As for the origin of the rumors, the woman who spread the baseless claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets has since walked them back, telling NBC News that “It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen.”
Erika Lee, a Springfield resident, had posted on Facebook about a neighbor’s missing cat, adding that the neighbor told Lee she thought the cat was the victim of an attack by her Haitian neighbors.
She had no firsthand knowledge of any such incident and now says she is filled with regret and fear of the fallout that may result from her now-viral post.
