Wendy Williams sparks outrage over segment on TikToker Swavy’s death
While covering the story, Williams kicked off the segment by musing out loud, “I have no idea who this person is … neither does one person in this building.”
It looks like legendary talk show host Wendy Williams has yet again found herself in hot water after fans accused her of being insensitive while covering the death of a popular social media influencer.
Monday, TikTok star Matima “Swavy” Miller was fatally shot with his death being confirmed by authorities on Tuesday. Despite the severity of the tragedy, the following morning, when the self-proclaimed “queen of media” covered the incident, viewers felt she callously attempted to turn the 19-year-old’s murder into a punchline.
While covering the story, the 56-year-old kicked off the segment by musing out loud, “I have no idea who this person is … neither does one person in this building.” Williams then proceeded to giggle with the audience as she feigned dismay over the fact that Swavy had more social media followers than she did.
i don’t know what i thought was gonna happen here but it’s so far past what i thought was gonna happen here https://t.co/ukTXh8hPxv
— Trey Smith (@SlimiHendrix) July 8, 2021
Not surprisingly, once a clip of the show was shared on Twitter, fans of the Swavy expressed their outrage that the loss of a young Black life would be taken so lightly by a Black woman with such a huge platform.
“She is so hateful. Like, she basically treated the announcement of his death like it was funny gossip,” said an outraged fan on one Twitter post with more than 70,000 likes. “Why disparage him? Why even talk about him at all if you and your audience are that removed from even knowing who he is? . . . She really coaxed laughter from the audience before announcing this young man’s murder.”
“We all know Wendy to be messy and with the s – – ts, but this wasn’t cool at all,” echoed another disappointed viewer who also received over 20,000-plus likes. “I don’t know this man, but may he rest in peace. I’m sorry his friends and family had to see this. Wow…”
According to reports, the Delaware-based teen was fatally gunned down in broad daylight Monday in the Southbridge neighborhood of Wilmington.
“The victim in this incident has been identified as Matima Miller,” read the Wilmington Police Department report. “This incident remains under investigation and further details will be released when possible.”
Miller’s username was @babyface.s. but was commonly referred to by his nickname, Swavy. The teen who regularly posted videos of himself dancing, playing with friends, and doing comedic skits had over 2.3 million followers on TikTok and another 401,000 followers on Instagram as @oneway.swavy.
On the day of the shooting, fellow YouTube star Damaury “Kid Mauri” Mikula publicly paid tribute to his “homeboy Swavy” in an emotional video.
“Yeah, my friend Swavy, man — he got shot,” Mikula revealed, wiping tears from his eyes with his T-shirt. “All he did was make videos — vids, vids, vids, going up, up, up, up.”
“Seeing him get taken out. Don’t make me say this, bro. It don’t make no sense,” continued the heartbroken star.
“I love you, my n—a. Dead ass, bro,” Mikula concluded. “I know you can’t hear in the real world right now but you’re up there looking down. I’m about to go hard for you, bro … You were so innocent.”
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