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A couple of days ago, I posted Jeremih’s “Birthday Sex” video for my PLAY OR SLAY? column. But instead of telling me whether or not the video sucks, the majority of the comments focused on the ethnicity of the main girl in the video.

What the hell?

For one thing, the column was about the video, not the girl. But I’m always open to hearing a good debate, so I’m willing to hear out all complaints. However, what’s with all these folks talking about her being white? She’s clearly not white, so pick another argument. Is it that she’s lightskinned, or “ethnically ambiguous”? Are we going to go into that again? Fine. But here’s my beef: why do you care so much? You didn’t produce the video. You’re not in the video. You don’t have to watch the video.

I DO think it sucks that there are video directors and artists who take preference over browner girls, and that’s really wack. But maybe I’m just an equal-opportunity employer, having two black parents of completely opposite skin tones and having crushed on or dated men of literally all ethnicities, and that could very well be why I think this debate is kind of bullshit. She’s just a pretty girl who beat out a bunch of other pretty girls to get the spot in this video. Maybe there were shadier things afoot in the making of the vid, but who knows? We weren’t there. I’m just kind of pissed at the fact that her racial ambiguity automatically makes her “white,” and therefore makes her “wrong.” That’s ignorance at its best. Or maybe I’m just sore because she reminds me of my little sister, who has green eyes and light skin and hair down to her butt, which has, on more than a few occasions, automatically made her “white” and thus “wrong.”

All I’m saying is, if you’ve got a good basis for bitching, by all means, do it. Go on – be mad that yet another light-skinned girl gets some shine over the millions of beautiful dark-skinned women out there. Be mad that the video just isn’t that good altogether and, to add insult to injury, they’re using a woman of “preferred”  skin tone as its main focus.  But if you’re going to rant, get your facts in order before you run around spouting hate. Cause at the end of the day, all this chick did was get paid.

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.