Killer Mike has not had it easy on social media as of late.
The Run the Jewels rapper caught heat last month from MSNBC anchor Joy Ann Reidand many others for doing a pro-gun ownership interview on NRA TV that was (unsurprisingly) weaponized to undermine the March for Our Lives youth movement.
Now Killer Mike has found himself in Black Twitter’s crosshairs for trying to call Reid a hypocrite, but he came up short on the facts.
It all started when Reid posted a picture on Instagram of herself and two women. In the caption, she wrote “And not to be outdone… @glamluxxe and @savvychicz, who rocked the H&M for our Elgin Baylor shoot! #AMJoy#GlamSquad”
Killer Mike saw the caption and was quick to point out what he saw as Reid’s hypocrisy.
“So me doing an interview about black gun ownership with the NRA is “bad,” but you promoting a company that tagged a black child a monkey is “good,” “cool, ” and “acceptable”. Ok check . Smh n***as,” wrote the rapper.
He thought the “H&M” Reid referred to in her caption was clothing retailer H & M. The Swedish company caught flack earlier this year for publishing an ad that featured a Black boy in a hoodie with the words “coolest monkey in the jungle” emblazoned on it.
Killer Mike’s “aha” moment quickly turned into an “uh oh.” Reid and others let him know that the “H&M” she mentioned stood for “hair and make-up,” a common abbreviation in the beauty industry.
Reid wrote “‘H&M’ stands for ‘hair and makeup,’ Mike. The two women beside me in this pic did my hair (H) and makeup (M) for a shoot. The blouse I’m wearing is by @norisolferrari and I doubt you can buy it at the retail chain you’re thinking of. (I got it from the designer via a stylist.) And here I was thinking you were an intellectual, and not just the guy who hangs out in the sunken place talking guns with the NRA’s “official black guy” who literally changed his last name to “black.”
Killer Mike deleted his comments and acknowledged the egg on his face.
Reid even went the extra mile and connected Killer Mike to her producer so that he could appear on her MSNBC show. Though the two of them seem to have made amends to a degree, Black Twitter wasn’t quite done with Mike’s public faux pas.
The Back Story
Reid was one of many people last month to criticize Killer Mike for his pro-gun NRA TV interview. The interview was subsequently used by NRA to undermine the March for Our Lives movement. Reid specifically called out Killer Mike for allowing himself to be used in such a way by the NRA, an organization that has a long, well-documented track record of not undermining the rights of Black citizens.
While trying to defend his decision to go on NRA TV, Killer Mike made the bizarre claim to Reid that NRA TV (a marketing arm of the NRA) is the same as CNN, MSNBC, and other legitimate news organizations. Reid shot down that line of reasoning and the two essentially agreed to disagree.
Killer Mike eventually took to social media to apologize to the youth activists who felt slighted by his NRA TV appearance.
Put foot in mouth, apologize, repeat. Seems like a pattern.