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Showbiz
Harry Fletcher
Jan 18, 2023
MLK statue in Boston getting mixed reviews on social media
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There’s been a new statue of Martin Luther King Jr. unveiled in celebration of the great man – but the look of the new monument has people a little… distracted.
Comedian Leslie Jones was in the host’s chair for the latest episode of The Daily Show and talk quickly turned to the new statue.
Jones, who was temporarily standing in the wake of the departure of Trevor Noah after he left last month, explained her issue with the monument in a review of the week's news.
The new $10m statue has already been harshly mocked on social media and slammed as an “insult” to the family by a cousin of the late civil rights leader’s wife Coretta Scott King.
The tribute to the civil rights leader shows him embracing his wife Coretta Scott King – but Jones had a different interpretation.
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After showing the audience a picture of the unique sculpture, she said: “Has anyone in here ever been eaten out?”
\u201cLeslie Jones saying what everyone is thinking about when seeing the MLK statue in Boston \ud83e\udd23\n\u201d— Wu-Tang is for the Children (@Wu-Tang is for the Children) 1674047792
Jones joked: “Because they are celebrating you right now in Boston. Listen, I know Dr. King went down in history, but this is not how you show it.”
Turning her attention to the white people in the audience, she added: “White people, you don’t need to say s*** about this statue. You need to sit your ass in the back of the bus for this one.”
Jones went on to say: “This is a civil rights icon… going down on his wife. You show some damn respect!”
“OK, Black people, what the f*** we gonna do?” she added, before joking that “you know it’s messed up when Black people and the Proud Boys hate the same statue.”
\u201cThere is a social media controversy about the new bronze sculpture in the #Boston Common honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Called Boston\u2019s \u201cstatue of liberty,\u201d many are saying it resembles something else.\u201d— Andy Ng\u00f4 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Andy Ng\u00f4 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1673702087
The comedian finished by saying: “in time, maybe we’ll see this statue for what it really is… Martin Luther King going down on his wife… I can’t unsee it!”
The 22-foot statue unveiled in Boston last week is supposed to depict a photograph of the couple embracing after MLK Jr learned he had won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.
The artwork, named The Embrace and designed by sculptor Hank Willis Thomas, shows four intertwined arms that form a heart from one view.
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