BMF actor Da’Vinchi is catching heat after telling Cam Newton that Americans stay “incompetent for a really long time” and agreeing that people from the Caribbean, Africa and the UK think they’re better than Black Americans. The comments came in a trailer for his upcoming appearance on Newton’s Funky Friday podcast, and the clips have been spreading since Friday.
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The conversation started with convenience culture. “Humans are becoming, like, more incompetent,” Da’Vinchi said. “You got people that’s 25, 30, 35, like they can’t do their own laundry. I could take care of myself, like, fully at like eight years old. But in America, no shade to you guys, you’re just incompetent for a really long time.”
Newton pushed back. “What America’s premise is, is efficiency. If there’s an easier way to do something, that’s what it will be,” the former NFL quarterback said. Da’Vinchi did not let up. “And as collateral, the nation, the kids suffer because they become incompetent,” he replied.
Then Newton took the conversation somewhere more personal for a lot of viewers. “I’m ready for hate,” he said. “There’s a stigma those in the Caribbean, Africa, or the UK think that they are better than Black Americans.”
“I think that’s true,” Da’Vinchi said.
He also weighed in on one of the longest running debates in Black Hollywood: why Black actors from outside the United States keep landing major American roles. Da’Vinchi suggested some producers may be drawn to overseas actors because they see them as more focused on the work. It’s the same conversation Samuel L. Jackson set off years ago when he questioned British actors being cast in Black American stories.
What’s getting lost in the clips is where Da’Vinchi comes from. The Haitian American actor, born Abraham D. Juste, was born and raised in Brooklyn. He has spoken openly about growing up in poverty, relying on school lunch for meals while his mother supported the family on about $30,000 a year. When he says he could take care of himself at 8, he’s describing an American childhood.
The response came quickly. Freedmen Nation, an advocacy group for Black Americans descended from people enslaved in the United States, added BMF actor Da’Vinchi to its boycott list on Sunday. The group said the move reflects its objection to generalizations that diminish Black Americans’ talent and effort, and argued that performers should be judged on their own preparation and work, not broad comparisons between groups. The group used the moment to promote its Freedmen Actors Union, which aims to build pathways for Black American performers.
Da’Vinchi is best known for playing Terry “Southwest T” Flenory on Starz’s BMF, which was canceled last year, and Darnell Hayes on All American. He has not publicly responded to the backlash.
Go back home, you don’t belong because you are wrong about adults knowing how to do their laundry. You are so lost in the sauce. Just go back home and leave us alone. We don’t need you here, to judge Americans, where do you think you come from? You’re in our country and you are disgrace for making these false comments. Go back home. Will be good without you.
First of all to say Black Americans are incompetent, and African and other cultures may feel they are better without providing historical factual information, he sounds incompetent and mixed up. Why should anyone listen to an adult man who has been privileged to work in Hollywood with verbal communication skills so limited that he uses the word “like” to explain what he’s trying to say. Teenagers use the word like frequently because it serves as a versatile linguistic tool for buying thinking time, softening statements, and managing the rhythm of a conversation. This man never came up with a logical explanation for his viewpoint. Most adults say “uh um” to buy a pause as a mental placeholder while their brain searches for the word. He mentioned he was able to do his own laundry, while being raised by a single mother. Strong black mothers facing economic hardship instill dignity, perseverance, and self-reliance in their children to help them navigate systemic challenges. Historical traditions shape modern Black parenting strategies. I suggest he spend some time in the library/or online to learn about the evolution of black parenting.
I don’t know what advocacy group added him to a boycott list. But I am aware of the ethnicity he was insulting. Their endonym is Foundational Black Americans. A deliberate choice to move away from top-down terms that lumped them in with other people.