Bernice King Shames Sexyy Red Into Deleting ‘Disrespectful’ MLK Day Post
Sexyy Red performs onstage during the WJLB Big Show at Little Caesars Arena on January 19, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. | Source: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty
A popular rapper was prompted to delete a “disrespectful” social media post featuring an altered image of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. after the civil rights icon’s daughter called out the hitmaker in a social media post of her own.
Rapper Sexyy Red heeded the words of the Rev. Dr. Bernice King on Tuesday afternoon, just about 24 hours after the social media post in question went viral on X, formerly Twitter, on the Martin Luther King federal holiday.
Sexyy Red’s post didn’t include any words. Instead, there was an image of Martin Luther King standing inches away from Sexyy Red, with whom he’s holding hands in a setting with other people around them.
The post spread quickly across the internet as the nation paused to remember the sacrifices made by King.
On Tuesday afternoon, Bernice King — the CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change — posted a sternly worded request draped in a history lesson for Sexyy Red to “Please delete” the post.
“This is intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable, and disrespectful to my family and my father, who is not here to respond himself because he was assassinated for working for your civil and human rights and to end war and poverty,” Bernice King wrote in a post on X that also shared Sexyy Red’s post. “Please delete.”
King subsequently provided more context to her request for the post to be deleted and made it clear that she was not attacking Sexyy Red.
“I don’t believe Sexyy Red to be a ‘degenerate,’ ‘ghetto,’ or ‘trash,'” Bernice King added. “I have spoken out in the past about the use of and comparison to either of my parents to denigrate other people.”
She suggested such a post defeated whatever its purpose may have been.
“I just don’t understand this type of use of my father’s image (on #MLKDay, no less), in a way that does not convey what we know to be true about his service and sacrifice,” Bernice King continued before asking: “Even if you disagree with him or with his tactics or even believe things said about him by people who hated him, why do this?”
Dr. Bernice A. King speaks at the 2025 Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community Commemorative Service at The King Center on January 20, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. | Source: Nykieria Chaney / Getty
Sexyy Red didn’t immediately respond to Bernice King’s request beyond complying with it soon afterward without comment.
Later on Tuesday night, the rapper issued a formal apology to Bernice King.
“You ain’t wrong, never meant to disrespect your family my apologies,” Sexyy Red wrote on X. “Just resposted something I saw that I thought was innocent.”
Bernice King responded in kind:
“Thank you for your apology, which I sincerely accept. Please know that it was not my intention that you be denigrated. I value you as a human being.
I hope you understand my concerns about the image. I know that my father has become a bit of a caricature to the world and that his image is often used with no regard to his family, his sacrificial work, or to the tragic, unjust way in which he died (a state-sanctioned assassination).
Unfortunately, I regularly challenge the disregard.
I earnestly wish that people would imagine what it would feel like to see their deceased, murdered father repurposed for party fliers, unjust legislation, etc. All the best to you, young lady.
Questionable social media posts about Martin Luther King to mark the federal holiday commemorating his life have become par for the online course. That is especially true as federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI post annual tributes despite having a documented history of using controversial surveillance programs like COINTELPRO to spy on him.
This is America.
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