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– Blogged By @DanielleBTV
Rihanna’s 5th Annual Diamond Ball is around the corner, and the singer has announced that 2019 honorees. The Bajan Badgal will honor American activist Shaun King, and Deputy Prime Minister of her native island Barbados, Mia Mottley.
The star-studded gathering will also feature performances from Pharrell and DJ Khaled. Rihanna said, ”I can’t imagine a better night than this year’s Clara Lionel Foundation event with Seth Meyers, Pharrell, and DJ Khaled.” She added, “I am particularly honored to present Prime Minister Mottley and Shaun King with this year’s Diamond Ball Awards for their groundbreaking work.”
Mia Mottley, the Barbados Prime Minister, is known for being a trailblazer in politics. After becoming the first woman elected to lead the Barbados Labour Party, Mottley went on to serve as the first female Attorney General and Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados.
Shaun King is widely known for his use of social media to promote social justice causes. Shaun King has used his social platform to highlight important issues pertaining to race and historically disadvantaged communities.
Following the announcement, however, Twitter had a fit, calling Shaun King out for allegedly being a scammer. In fact, many are claiming he hasn’t been transparent about fundraising efforts in the past.
In response, King took to his podcast, “The Breakdown with Shaun King,” to address complaints and concerns about his background in fundraising. However, to preface the epsiode, King outlined his reponse, saying, “This past week Rihanna announced that I was being honored at her Diamond Ball.
And every day since, I’ve been called a scammer, a fraud, a thief, and a grifter – and not just by random trolls and conservatives, but by real people, who’ve said that I was “getting rich off of fundraising for families impacted by police brutality,” that I was “stealing and scamming with our campaign to Flip the Senate,” and that I am “stealing from gullible people who are just frightened in the age of Trump.” All complete fabrications,” he said. “It hurts. It has impacted my wife, my children, my actual places of employment, my fundraising for families and candidates, and so much more,” King added, before he answered specific questions throughout the epsiode, like, “How much money have you raised?” “Why didn’t you issue the report on your fundraising that you said you were going to do?” addressed concerns about the “Flip the Senate” campaign and much more.
Rihanna started the Diamond Ball in 2014, to support her foundation, named in of her grandparents, Clara, and Lionel Braithwaite. The non-profit was created to help fund education and emergency response programs throughout the globe. It has reportedly funded over 59 global projects and has reportedly committed $13 million in grants.
The 5th Annual Diamond Ball will be held on September 12 in NYC.
