Actress LisaRaye McCoy was caught at an airport by a TMZ cameraman and took a moment to defend herself against colorist accusations. We previously reported on her defense of Rob Lederman comparing black women’s skin tones, but now the All of Us actress is back to say that she would never want her granddaughter to grow up thinking of her as a colorist.
Lederman was fired from 97 Rock after he said on his show, “I’d never go to a Serena Williams level. But I’m very comfortable at a Halle Berry level.” Though Berry herself called Lederman out on his ignorance, LisaRaye put her cape on and excused his comments in an episode of Cocktails With Queens.
“Wait a minute,” the actress interrupted. “What I heard was an opinion. I heard that he’s just saying that he doesn’t — he won’t go as far as a dark-skinned black woman. He’s comfortable with going with the color of a Halle Berry. What’s wrong with that?
Though co-hosts Claudia Jordan and Syleena Johnson tried to explain that his comments were rooted in colorism and anti-blackness, LisaRaye continued to chalk it up to Lederman’s preference.
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Speaking to TMZ on Monday, she explained her comments on the talk show, saying, “I was commenting on his preference to black women. That’s what I was talking about. My grandbaby is brown-skinned. So by no means would I want my grandbaby to think that her grandmother is a colorist.”
“I know what my preference is,” she continued. “And I can’t stand by someone that doesn’t…that’s a racist. And I don’t know that about him. I can’t even comment on that. I don’t even know.”
LisaRaye then commented on the “sensitive” climate we’re living in but then made it clear that she in no way supports Lederman. She also acknowledged that there’s a “bigger conversation” to be had about colorism overall.
