Jessie Woo, one of the cast members on Wild ‘N Out, came under fire for a crass joke she made about the late R&B icon, Whitney Houston. More troubling is that this is not the first time the aspiring singer of Haitian descent has come for a Black American woman.
This week on the show’s “Outgoing Message” segment, Woo was tasked with impersonating Houston. Sounds pretty simple, right?
Woo, born Jessica Juste, thought that impersonating the singer’s penchant for the magnificent vocal performance of “I Will Always Love You” was the way to go. It was until she added a joke about the singer’s untimely and very tragic death.
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“You have reached my line, but unfortunately, I do not have the time,” Woo sang, imitating Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You.” At the well-known crescendo of the song, Woo sang, “And I… I’m dead.”
She then walked off the stage.
Both the audience and Woo’s colleagues onstage reacted in a manner consistent with the poor taste of the joke.
The skit was not only problematic for the most obvious reason. But also because the F-List celebrity has a history of slick talk regarding African Americans and Black women in particular.
For example, she compared Black “baby mommas” to roaches when controversy over the mother of rapper Drake’s son ensued.
“Y’all baby mommas be looking like brown-skinned roaches, but y’all have high standards when it comes to Drake’s baby momma? Hush,” she tweeted back in 2018.
via MEME
The fauxlebrity later returned and said that she only meant that roaches are brown, and the “baby mommas” are brown. What a weird way to defend a white woman who had a rapper’s baby.
Woo later deleted the tweet and said she understood why it was problematic, but screenshots are forever.
Then there was the time that she tweeted that the Haitian Revolution was the only revolution that mattered because “your (Black Americans’) raggedy Caucasian ancestors built their fortunes for free. Haiti freed itself.”
She further said that a revolution and a slave revolt are two different things, implying that the latter was less important.
The Haitian Revolution is the only Revolution that matters.
All of the other revolutions were rooted in slavery, colonialism, imperialism, racism and all the other “isms” your raggedy Caucasian ancestors used to build their fortunes for free. Haiti freed itself.
— MBali Woo ? (@TheJessieWoo) September 26, 2020
As for her latest blunder, she chose to take the same unapologetic route.
Male Comedians and folks on twitter make jokes about Whitney’s battle with drugs still till this day… but me impersonating her during a voicemail game by singing her song & saying “I’m dead” (a great excuse why she cannot come to the phone)… but I went too far? pic.twitter.com/2COsQPC998
— MBali Woo ? (@TheJessieWoo) August 13, 2021
The show is called “WILD N OUT” for a reason… and still I was able to say some wild shit without picking low hanging fruit like her history with drugs… unlike the many comedians who have for decades. I pushed the envelope and I am proud of me
— MBali Woo ? (@TheJessieWoo) August 13, 2021
Her response is as tone-deaf as her singing. While Jessie Woo believes that she did not pick “low-hanging” fruit by avoiding Whitney Houston’s drug history because it was that history that ultimately caused the late legend’s death, Woo did indeed pick the lowest hanging fruit.
In fact, if Woo is a comedian and had any knowledge of Houston whatsoever, there was a range of topics that she could have used to joke about that had nothing to do with drugs or death.
One Twitter user responded to Woo’s defense of herself by saying that she had no business singing the “I Will Always Love You” tune in her joke in the first place.
A song you shouldn’t even be singing because it’s not in your vocal range.
Go take some lessons. https://t.co/JVvjlrIN2X
— legend. (@cheesewizbandit) August 13, 2021
The Whitney Houston debacle isn’t the first time Woo has been called out for being anti-Black American.
On Juneteenth, she butchered the Black (American) National Anthem “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” written by James Wheldon Johnson in 1900. Woo dismissed her followers after giggling about not knowing the words. And as Black American women pulled her coattails, she became disrespectful.
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In now-deleted responses, Woo resorted to telling her Black American followers to “STFU.”
After days of being called out for being Anti-Black American. Woo took to Twitter to defend her behavior and said, “I have always identified as AA in this country.”
Naw, Sis. You ain’t.
She was born in Canada and didn’t come to the United States until she was six years old.
Woo being Haitian or Canadian is not a problem. But, there are differences within the diaspora that requires more than just a rudimentary understanding of how each nation where African-descended people has its own cultural landmarks. Further, Woo sports her label as a successful immigrant with pride, disregarding the very people who paved the way for any immigrant to succeed in America. So how could she claim an identity that isn’t hers?
For the record, Woo’s appropriation of African-American Vernacular English and culture has been the premise of her platform and her low-bar celebrity status. Furthermore, if Woo thinks so little of the culture and people she gets paid to mock– maybe she should carry her wack act back to Canada.
With that said, Wild ‘N Out may be a show for jokes, but while Woo tries to find her key, she should look into better material.
