Janelle Monáe slammed the Supreme Court during her recent appearance at the 2022 BET awards.
On Friday (24 June), the court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the Supreme Court wrote in a document.
Due to the recent ruling, many states within the US are either set to restrict or ban the procedure altogether.
Alongside the court’s dangerous decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Justice Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court should “reconsider” various landmark decisions such as the right to contraception, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” said the conservative associate justice.
While presenting the award for Female R&B/Pop artist, Monáe condemned the Supreme Court for the highly controversial ruling.
“I want to give a special, special shout out to Black women, to Black queer artists, to Black non-binary artists,” she said.
“These artists are making art on our own terms, owning our truths and expressing ourselves freely and unapologetically in a world that tries to control and police our bodies. My body and our decisions, my decisions.”
Monáe then flipped their middle finger towards the camera while stating, “f*ck you, Supreme Court”, which earned cheers from the audience.
Janelle Monae with the message in most of our heads right now. “F you, Supreme Court!” #BETAwards pic.twitter.com/3v7OlPiE9U
— KenBarbie™ (@itsKenBarbie) June 27, 2022
“I know we’re celebrating us right now as we should. We absolutely deserve to celebrate,” they continued. “Especially now, we must celebrate our art by protecting our rights and our truths.”
Monáe wasn’t the only celebrity at the BET Awards to bring attention to the recent Supreme Court ruling.
Host Taraji P. Henson started off the evening by thanking Lizzo – who opened the show by performing About Damn Time – and her gracious donation of $500,000 to Planned Parenthood, which was matched by Live Nation.
“Thank you, Lizzo, for pledging one million dollars to Planned Parenthood. And you damn right – it’s about damn time,” Henson said.
“It’s about damn time we step into our power. It’s about damn time we talk about the fact that guns have more rights than a woman. It’s a sad day in America.
“A weapon that can take lives has more power than a woman who can give life – if she chooses to.”
Jasmine Sullivan also condemned the overturning of Roe v. Wade while accepting her awards for R&B/Pop artist.
“As always, I do this for the women, my sisters, especially. It’s a hard time right now for us, and I want to speak directly to the men,” Sullivan said in her heartfelt speech.
“We need y’all. We need y’all to stand up. Stand up for us, stand up with us.”
Watch Janelle Monáe’s full speech below.
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