Da’Vinchi is facing a fresh round of backlash after a new clip surfaced of him telling Cam Newton that the way people look at slavery is keeping them from moving forward.
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The BMF actor made the comments during his October 2 appearance on Newton’s Funky Friday podcast. The topic came up when Newton asked whether he could date outside his race and do it openly.
Da’Vinchi said it was “unfortunate that we have so many people in the world that can’t see past that.” He acknowledged the pain behind it first. “I could understand the emotions that it conjure up because of what people of African descent have gone through under the hands of Caucasians,” he said.
Then he pivoted. “But however, the story is much bigger,” he said. “Caucasians have enslaved Caucasians. Black people have enslaved Black people.”
“We’re looking at history from a point of view that is cutting our legs off from on our feet to really be able to move forward and be like smarter and more like, I think just more awareness,” he said.
The clip landed on top of an interview that already had people heated. Earlier in the same conversation, Da’Vinchi said Americans stay “incompetent for a really long time,” suggested producers may see overseas Black actors as more focused on the work, and agreed with Newton that people from the Caribbean, Africa and the UK think they are better than Black Americans.
Da’Vinchi, whose real name is Abraham Juste, was born in Brooklyn to Haitian parents. He told Newton he was largely raised by his grandmother, who didn’t speak English, so home was Haiti and the outside world was America. Bossip reported that he also pointed to Haiti’s victory over France as part of why some Haitians feel above Black Americans, who did not overthrow their enslavers the same way.
The response has gone beyond the comment sections. Freedmen Nation, an advocacy group for Black Americans descended from people enslaved in the United States, added Da’Vinchi to its boycott list on Sunday. The group said it objects to generalizations that diminish the talent and effort of its community.
A former friend of the actor has also spoken out. In comments reported by Hollywood Unlocked, a man named Brown claimed Da’Vinchi “always separated himself,” saying he wasn’t Black but Haitian. Da’Vinchi has not responded to that claim.
