Another Black entertainer is coming out with the treatment she has received from the entertainment industry. Keisha Buchanan said in a recent interview that she was a victim of “systemic racism” in the media.
As the Evening Standard recounts, the 35-year-old singer made the declaration during an interview on morning show This Morning. According to Buchanan, she found herself being the constant target of rumors of “being difficult” as well as becoming “collateral” when one of the Sugababes’ albums flopped.
Buchanan said the media started targeting her in 2001 after founding Sugababes member Siobhan Donaghy left the band and was replaced by Heidi Range. According to her, she and bandmate Mutya Buena -- who is half-Filipino -- were made to look like the “bad girls” in the group while Donaghy -- who is white -- was the media darling.
When Buena left in 2005, Buchanan said she became the sole target of the media, who she says pushed the narrative of her being a difficult person to work with within the group.
Even the record label was in on this negative portrayal, says Buchanan. As NME reports, Buchanan said a “senior position” at her label Island Records allowed the proliferation of those negative stories as “collateral” when the Sugababes’ 2008 album Catfights and Spotlights was considered a failure.
According to Buchanan, all of the negative coverage affected her adversely, making her lower her boundaries as she was afraid that she would be labeled aggressive if she enforced her boundaries. She says she would skip consulting her lawyers with regards to contract signings because she did not want to be labeled the difficult on by her record label.
The killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that it sparked was part of the reason why she felt compelled to share her story now, said Buchanan. She says the movement it spurred has allowed for discussions like this to happen and that she hopes it gives members of the media some pause when writing about Black people, as their perceptions may be clouded by prejudice.
Buchanan’s revelations come a few days after former X Factor contestant Misha B came out with claims that the show sought to push the “angry black girl” narrative on her. Misha B says that X Factor judges Louis Walsh and Tulisa Contostalvos would call her “feisty” and “mean,” which she said are often used on Black women accused of being too confident or too loud.
Even Beyoncé, one of the biggest names in the music industry right now, shared the racism and sexism she faced from the music industry during the speech she delivered for YouTube’s Dear Class of 2020.