When music superstars Jay-Z -- whose real name is Shawn Carter -- and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter celebrated their fifth anniversary with a vacation to Cuba, the couple was criticized on Twitter by Stacey Dash, who asked: “Do you care that The Jay Z"s have taken the capital you have given them and funded a communist oppressive regime?”
The African-American actress's question drew many angry responses, ranging from suggestions that she “go die” to calling her “a modern day slave girl whore 4 white men.”
“i loved when stacey dash didn't talk,” stated @WTF_isOkechukwu. “WHO RUINED HER?”
The discussion veered into politics when @mrdaveyd wrote:
Jay-Z & Beyonce did not tank the economy, not pay taxes or outsource jobs, ur boy Mitt Romney did, who btw LOST!
"Stacey Dash's pure full-on vagina is on the internet so it makes no sense for her to be a Republican,” said @crissles.
@OmarKelly also viewed the debate in sexual terms:
At one time in my life I would have sold my left testicle to meet Stacey Dash. Today ... I'll pass.
In response, @JaredOdrick98 said: “Meet? Wrong 4 letter word.”
When @ChrisHnryLXXXII declared that "Stacy is modern day slave girl whore 4 white men,” @bassattacker1 replied: “Amen preach it sista.”
And then came the brief but angry death threats.
“First of all, go die,” stated @__ChasemyLOVE.
Then @crissles added to a previous post by declaring “sweetie we will end you,” @HPhenomenal simply declared “Die whore,” and @SRDtv had the briefest post of all: “DIE.”
Nevertheless, Dash isn't the only person to bash the couple's Cuban vacation.
When @eonline stated “Cannot get over how flawless Beyoncé & Jay-Z look in Cuba,” GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen replied: “Yes, flawlessly overlooking human rights abuses.”
However, the Republican congresswoman from Florida did more than just post tweets on the matter. She and fellow Florida GOP representative Mario Diaz-Balart sent a letter to Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the U.S. Treasury Department, seeking information regarding the type of license the couple received, for what purpose, and who approved the trip.
The controversy even drew in U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of southern Florida, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, who said she's “absolutely uncomfortable with the way and concerned about” how some visitors have been traveling to and from Cuba.
After the musicians returned to the U.S., Carter produced a profanity-laden rap song entitled “Open Letter” in which he claims neither he nor his wife -- who sang at President Barack Obama’s inauguration and the Super Bowl this year and was named “Most Beautiful Woman in the World” last year by People magazine -- broke any laws during their trip.
Meanwhile, Diaz-Balart stated that he is "outraged by the vague response" he got from Szubin, which he said “failed to answer the simple questions” he and Ros-Lehtinen asked.
Cuba remains an island prison for those still struggling for basic freedoms. I urge President Obama to side with the Cuban people and halt any further channeling of U.S. tourism dollars to their jailers.
As NewsBusters previously reported, Dash doesn't back down after making a statement liberals consider “controversial.”
In October of 2012, she endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, stating that she “chose him not by the color of his skin but the content of his character.”
While serving as a guest host on ABC's The View in mid-November, the actress refused to back down on her endorsement despite a barrage of hostile questions from the weekday program's other hosts.
The current situation regarding U.S. celebrities traveling to communist countries is perhaps best summarized by @cindymccain, who tweeted:
Rodman goes to N. Korea, Beyonce goes to Cuba. Do these people know how to read? Freedom enabled them to be successful. Not oppression.
