While more and more people continue to demonstrate and protest against police brutality and mistreatment of individuals, singer Janelle Monae found herself cut off when she attempted to voice her own concerns on the matter.
Performing on The Today Show last week, she debuted “Hell You Talmbout,” her record label’s latest single which is a tribute to the many victims of racially motivated violence. After the performance, she proceeded to say:
“Yes Lord! God bless America! God bless all the lost lives to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced…”
At that point she was cut off as the camera panned across to one of the shows’ hosts. Unsurprisingly, the move didn’t go down particularly well with viewers with one posting a message of support on Twitter.
dang @TODAYshow, just couldn't let her finish, huh? love ya @JanelleMonae! #BlackLivesMatter cc: @deray @Nettaaaaaaaa pic.twitter.com/QeGhY5lQGJ
— marla rené (@theseMYtweetz) August 14, 2015
Soon after the show, a source at Today explained that:
“The performance was not intentionally cut off — the show is programmed for that hard commercial break at the same time every day.”