Months after being dragged by Black folks online, actress and entrepreneur Tabitha Brown is finally breaking her silence to clarify statements that got her in trouble with many in the Black community. Since her fall from grace, Brown admitted that her businesses have been suffering and she’s received threats to her personal safety. And can you believe it all goes back to that Target boycott from earlier this year?
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We previously told you Black Americans organized to boycott several companies including Target, Walmart and Amazon after President Donald Trump’s attack on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) starting at the beginning of his second term. While other businesses like Costco and elf doubled down on their support for diversity within their companies, people called out Target — where Black owned businesses and products have become staples — for abiding by the president’s order.
Enter Brown: She came out urging folks to reconsider the Target boycott because Black businesses like her haircare line, Donda’s Recipe, would be negatively impacted. Expectedly, she was dragged to the heavens over the matter. Brown said she had to ramp up security because of the horrific threats against her following her initial statements. Additionally, the TikToker revealed her businesses started to suffer — just as she predicted.
Now, it seems Brown is back to finally give a little more context about her initial statements.
“I was trying to educate people on this is what’s going to happen for these small businesses. ‘Cause some people are like, ‘I ain’t boycotting.’ I’m like, ‘Listen, I understand,’” she said during a recent interview on iHeartPodcast’s “Not My Best Moment” with KevOnStage. “‘If you decide not to and you still go in Target, please only buy Black. Only support those businesses because the numbers don’t lie,’” Brown continued.
The creator admitted she felt it was her responsibility to speak out for the Black entrepreneurs who do not have her huge platform. “I own multiple businesses. Don’t worry about me,” she continued. “But these other people…some of these Black-owned businesses, it’s their first time being in the store. This is why I was really so upset because Target, y’all really did this right before the Black History Month launch. Y’all know what it’s going to do to these these businesses. You know how long it take to get in there.”
Brown wasn’t the only Black business owner calling on folks to still support Target businesses amid the boycott. Business owners like 13-year-old Zoe Oli, the founder of Beautiful Curly Me, and even April Showers expressed the importance of Black customers buying their products despite the boycott. Unlike Brown, however, these creators were heard in full.
Showers, the CEO and founder of Afro Unicorn, spoke to NPR in January. “We wouldn’t want to just take our products out of the stores because there are thousands of people that walk these aisles every day,” she said. “Our direct-to-consumer business does exist, but the eyeballs that we get by having your products in stores does not even compare.”
But while Brown said her heart was in the right place, that didn’t stop Black folks from being upset with her. In response,
Now, Brown said she’s learned her lesson, and that’s not to solely depend on major companies to sell her products. After her deal with Target, the creator said she includes a dual-morality clause in all of her contracts. This allows her end partnerships with brands if they no longer align with her values.
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