As Donald Glover has evolved from standup comedian, to rap star, to actor/writer/director/producer, rumors that he has a disdain for Black women have consistently followed him from project to project.
Even just last year as Swarm (the Beyhive-inspired dark crime dramedy he co-created and executive produced) gained critical acclaim, social media buzzed that Glover “wasn’t beating the allegations” on his dislike and dismissal of Black women. A portion of a Vulture article featuring Dominique Fishback went viral where she revealed that Glover insisted that her murderous main character, a Black woman with an intense fixation on a Beyoncé-inspired pop star and a mysterious dark past, didn’t deserve a full backstory and had no necessity for humanization through her ruthless brutality.
While chatting with The Hollywood Reporter alongside his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Maya Erskine, the perception of Glover’s relationship with Black women came up. Both Glover’s co-star and the interviewer were curious where these claims originated.
When asked about his now-infamous 2022 Interview magazine feature where he interviewed himself and posed the question of if he feared Black women and somewhat refused to answer himself, the actor explained that he asked himself because no one else had been so direct.
“I felt like it was something that people always say, but no one ever asked because I felt like people really don’t want to know. It is a better narrative,” he told THR. “But anybody who actually knows me knows how much that hurts me.”
Despite being wounded by the assumption, Glover insists the truth doesn’t actually matter enough for it to be fully addressed.
“But I also realize it doesn’t matter. People are not going to read this and be like, ‘Wow, I was wrong,'” he said.
When asked how he pushes past the pain of the assumption that he doesn’t like Black women to reach a point of not caring about the narrative, Glover simply acknowledges “that’s what celebrity is,” and focuses on paying more attention to real life than to the internet.
“[I] go play with my kids and be happy and be present. Because my kids know that and they’re the only ones who matter. Or my mom knows that, and she’s the only one who matters,” he said. “Or Quinta [Brunson] knows that, and she’s the only one who matters. People who actually know me. And also, it’s not true. When I walk down the street in Atlanta, that’s not what happens.”