2015 VMAs: Rebel Wilson receives Twitter backlash over police brutality joke

Actress Rebel Wilson arrives at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2015. Reuters/Danny Moloshok

Rebel Wilson’s speech about police brutality during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) was supposedly meant as a joke. However, few people were not very impressed with her message and expressed their disapproval on Twitter.

The Australian actress reportedly sparked outrage over her police violence skit at the VMAs after netizens failed to see anything funny about a serious matter. The New York Daily News says Rebel’s joke especially got the attention of DeRay Mckesson, a “Black Lives Matter” activist, who accused the comedian of mocking the police murders of black people in the United States.

.@RebelWilson/@MTV, police violence isn't a joke, as the deaths of #TamirRice, #RekiaBoyd, #FreddieGray, #MikeBrown, & #MyaHall remind us.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 31, 2015

If the police kill someone you love, would it be a funny joke, then? https://t.co/ayMS8YC1Yj
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 31, 2015

Mckesson is believed to be a member of the “We The Protesters” organisation. He has reportedly been working with “Black Lives Matter,” an activist group who calls for the end to police violence against African Americans.

Other netizens also took to social media to share their thoughts on Wilson’s police brutality joke at the VMAs.

Mock the Black Lives Matter Movement before presenting Best Rap Video. I see you white supremacy. I see you. #VMAs
— zellie (@zellieimani) August 31, 2015

Another Twitter user admitted she’s a fan of Rebel but thought that it was inappropriate and neither cute nor funny for her to make fun of “the disgusting reality of police brutality.” A user named Cassandra Fairbanks also tagged Wilson on her tweet and said, “I seriously fail to see any comedy in police violence, what-so-ever @RebelWilson.”

People reportedly also commented on how Rebel got the courage to joke about police violence before she presented the Best Hip-Hop Video award. Twitter user Glen Coco said the actress making a joke out of police brutality before presenting the award is “so white it hurts.” While another user named Derrick Clifton called out the actress for having the nerve to present the Best Hip-Hop Video while making light of police violence.

Rebel talked about hating the police strippers during her skit at the VMAs on Sunday afternoon, according to the Huffington Post . The “Pitch Perfect” star was dressed in a police uniform while complaining about failed lap dances from police strippers.

Before presenting the Best Hip-Hop Video award to Nicki Minaj, Rebel ended her speech by taking off her police uniform to reveal a shirt that says, “F**k Tha Stripper Police,” as seen in this photo shared by the New York Daily News. Rebel and her representative have yet to comment on the Twitter backlash over her police stripper skit at the VMAs.

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