This has been a week of ups and downs for Mary J. Blige. Monday, Burger King posted a commercial featuring the R&B diva crooning about fried chicken wraps on YouTube, that became a viral sensation on the web. Blige immediately received harsh criticism from within the African-American community, some calling the commercial “an act of ‘buffoonery” by the singer.
Hours after the commercial was released, it was pulled from YouTube, and followed up by an apology from Burger King on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, the Mary J. Blige commercial was released prematurely before all of the licensing and final approvals were obtained,” the company said in a statement. “We would like to apologize to Mary J. and all of her fans for airing an ad that was not final. We know how important Mary J. is to her fans, and we are currently in the process of finalizing the commercial. We hope to have the final ad on the air soon.”
The “No More Drama” singer also spoke to the media this week, in what some saw as an attempt at damage control.
“I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence. Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip,” Blige told TMZ in a statement. “I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw go out.”
Burger King still has plans to release a new and finalized version of the commercial featuring Blige, and her fans are no doubt hoping that they paint the Grammy Award winning singer in a better light.
