Ne-Yo Clears Up Comment Calling George Floyd’s Life A “Sacrifice” After Receiving Backlash At Houston Funeral Service
GettyImages Reading Time: 3 minutes
George Floyd’s death caught the attention of millions of people and celebrities all over the world after a video of it went viral online. This sparked the call for justice and an end to police brutality. Singer Ne-Yo was one of the celebrities that attended and performed at Floyd’s Houston funeral service and he made some comments that people are genuinely outraged over.
Ne-Yo Outraged People With His Statements About George Floyd’s Death
The World Of Dance judge made an appearance on The Morning Hustle to speak further about what he meant during his performance at the funeral service. Before he sang at the funeral service in Houston, he thanked, “George Floyd for his sacrifice, so that my kids can be alright later on.” The father of four faced immediate backlash because people believe the word he should’ve used was murder. Floyd’s death was ruled a homicide after Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck causing him to not be able to breathe and eventually dying after more than eight minutes.
Some genuinely believe it really was just a poor choice of words and that Floyd’s death has “sparked a new revolution of change for future children.”
Immediately after Ne-Yo saw that he was receiving backlash, he responded to an Instagram comment defending using the word “sacrifice.” He said the sacrifice of Floyd’s life was the spark that people needed to “create the energy for change.”
SEE ALSO: WHICH CELEBRITIES CAME TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT AT GEORGE FLOYD’S MINNEAPOLIS MEMORIAL SERVICE
The Singer Doubled Down On His Comments About Floyd
For Ne-Yo, he wanted to make it clear that he fully supports the Floyd family and of course meant no harm by his comments. After singing at the funeral he said “We cannot let ignorance divide us right now.” The word sacrifice really had some people questioning Ne-Yo’s intentions but he explained further what he meant. “George Floyd didn’t wake up that morning planning to be a sacrifice. He didn’t plead and plan to go out and die for black people but that’s what happened and it’s unfortunate that it happened that way but that’s what happened,” he said on the radio show. “So yes, it was a sacrifice. He wanted to be here but he’s not here, his life was sacrificed so that the change that is happening slowly but surely can happen,” he finished up saying.
Ne-Yo also made it known that when he showed up to the funeral service, he wanted to keep his presence on the down-low. He sat towards the back because he did not want to make the moment about him. The World Of Dance judge noted that he was then ushered to the front and was called upon to speak and sing. Actor Kevin Hart also had a similar experience where he attended the Minneapolis memorial service and did not want the day to be about him. He wanted it to be about honoring the life of Floyd and his family with this series of funeral services all over the country.
