As Derek Chauvin's trial for the death of George Floyd gets underway, emotions everywhere have been heightened as we're reminded of the unfortunate legacy of racialized police brutality that exists within the country. Following a year full of mass protests and widespread demonstrations, the racial tension in the country has never been so visible. In an effort to express her intense emotional response towards the murder trial, American "Goddess of Pop" Cher ended up becoming social media's victim of the day.
In the tweet penned by the 74-year-old pop sensation on Friday (April 2), she disclosed a conversation she had with her mother about the Derek Chauvin trial. She wrote, edited for clarity, "Was talking with Mom & she said 'I watched [the] trial of [the] policeman who killed George Floyd, & cried.'"
She continued, making the claim, "I Said 'Mom, I Know This Is Gonna Sound CRAZY, But.. I Kept Thinking .....Maybe If I’d Been There,...I Could’ve Helped."
Shortly after posting it, Cher's tweet, while well-meaning, instantly received mass amounts of criticism for the "white savior" undertones littered in her response. At the time of this article's publication, her tweet sits at 2.4k retweets and 7.6k quote replies. One Twitter user in a viral tweet compared Cher's tweet to Kendall Jenner's incredibly controversial Pepsi commercial where she boldly strutted up to officers and handed them a Pepsi, which many interpreted as meaning the effective end to police violence.
Another took a much more neutral response, writing, "Y’all are roasting Cher for tweeting that she wishes she’d been there for George Floyd? Seriously?! She’s not claiming she’s a superhero like in your funny memes, it’s all about the feelings of devastation and outrage. She wishes she could’ve helped George Floyd, like any of us."
Check out more reactions to Cher's tweet and let us know your take down in the comments.
