Singer Jill Scott Faces Backlash Following Ad-Lib Attack on America During National Anthem
July 7 2023, Published 2:02 p.m. ET
R&B singer Jill Scott faced backlash after she was accused of attacking America during a recent remix of the National Anthem, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Scott performed on the second day of the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana — but during her performance, the singer branded the U.S. "not the land of the free, but the home of the slaves!"
Essence, a lifestyle magazine written for Black women, tweeted a video of Scott's performance and wrote, "Everyone please rise for the only National Anthem we will be recognizing from this day forward." While the outlet applauded Scott, Twitter users were enraged.
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Scott's performance featured the following lyrics change.
"Oh say can you see by the blood in the streets / That this place doesn’t smile on you colored child / Whose blood built this land with sweat and their hands / But we’ll die in this place and your memory erased / Oh say, does this truth hold any weight / This is not the land of the free, but the home of the slaves!"
While applause from the crowd could be heard in Essence's original video, the performance was branded "absolute bulls---" online.
"It's repulsive. If you want to make an anti-America song, that is your First Amendment right as an American citizen, but to bastardize the National Anthem is DESPICABLE," read one Twitter user's reply.
Numerous responses questioned why Scott would continue to live in a country she apparently loathed.
"America is such a terrible country that millionaires sing about how oppressed they are... and continue to choose to live here," commented one viewer.
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Scott actually has considered moving out of the country. In a previous interview with Jemele Hill, Scott shared that she had considered the idea and saw value in foreign education systems.
"There are some things you don’t have to deal with in other countries," Scott told Hill. "We’re looking at Holland… The education is dope, the healthcare is dope. There’s very few confines on your personality."
Scott added that she liked "the idea of people being able to be free as long as you’re not harming anybody."
