Celebrities like Drake, Rihanna, LeBron James took part in Blackout Tuesday, posting black squares to show that #TheShowMustBePaused
Social media went dark on June 2. It’s Black Out Tuesday, aka #TheShowMustBePaused, a day created in response to “the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black citizens at the hand of the police,” according to the organizer’s Instagram page. It was initially meant for members of the music industry to take a beat for an honest, reflective, and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community.” So, it was no surprise to see stars like Drake, Cardi B, and Rihannaparticipate in the demonstration by “blacking out” their Instagram page. Each of these music superstars posted a plain black square in solidarity with the movement.
It extended beyond the music world. Sports stars like LeBron James, Steph Curry (and his better half, Ayesha Curry) also partook in #TheShowMustBePaused. Countless others posted plain black squares, including comedian Kevin Hart and Real Housewives of Miami/Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, Larsa Pippen.
#TheShowMustBePaused / Black Out Tuesday was created by Atlantic senior directors of marketing Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas. Jamila hinted that something like this was coming with a May 29 post to her IG account. “Your Black executives, artists, managers, staff, colleagues are drained, traumatized, hurt, scared [and] angry,” Jamila said.
