NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace is Jussie Smollett 2.0.
Wallace caused a nationwide controversy when he “mistook” a garage door handle for a noose at the Talladega Superspeedway on June 21st.
And now the divisive NASCAR driver just got rewarded with a huge ridiculous endorsement contract from this music mogul.
On June 21, 2020, a member of Bubba Wallace’s team reported to NASCAR that a noose had been placed in the African American driver’s garage at the Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR quickly condemned the act as “heinous,” immediately calling the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist them in uncovering what happened.
Within 24 hours, the FBI concluded that it was just a garage door handle. There was nothing “heinous” about it.
Wallace stated that he was “incredibly saddened” by the “painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism”, but also praising his fellow drivers that are “driving real change and championing a community that is accepting and welcoming of everyone.”
But after the investigation, Wallace emphatically stood by his story that it was still a noose even though there is literally photographic evidence of that same garage door handle dating back to 2019, months before Wallace’s team entered that garage. In fact, eleven other garages contained the same pull-down rope.
Wallace offered no apology despite his glaring mistake.
Somehow, Wallace is being rewarded for that because music mogul Dr. Dre gave him an endorsement deal through his company Beats by Dre, where it is owned by Apple.
Beats by Dre declared in a tweet, “We weren’t going to announce this until later this week, but hate cannot win the day. No one should ever be asked to apologize for standing up for what’s right — we are proud to welcome @bubbawallace to the Beats by Dr. Dre family.”
We weren’t going to announce this until later this week, but hate cannot win the day. No one should ever be asked to apologize for standing up for what’s right — we are proud to welcome @bubbawallace to the Beats by Dr. Dre family. pic.twitter.com/HeiC76MDle
— Beats by Dre (@beatsbydre) July 6, 2020
They’re right about one thing with this tweet, which is that “no one should ever be asked to apologize for standing up for what’s right.” The only problem with that sentiment is that’s not what happened here at all.
Wallace impeded race-relations in this country by an immeasurable metric because this is a dog whistle that all NASCAR fans are members of the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazis. It should go without saying that isn’t true.
So when Wallace – or by a much greater extent, former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett lying about being beaten up by MAGA-hat wearers, stokes these racial fires, they’re doing significant damage that’s impossible to calculate. Look at how this Smollett situation has unfolded over the last year.
President Trump tweeted of the June incident: “Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!”
And then he gets an endorsement contract because of his “mistake”?
This is unbelievably ridiculous that provable lies get rewarded with big contracts. What kind of message or encouragement does that send?
Thankfully, unlike Wallace, Smollett will likely never get another job in his chosen profession again.
