On Monday, former MSNBC host Touré Neblett issued a tweet asking “Black Twitter” which video “was more satisfying to watch—Brad Parscale being forcefully tackled and arrested by police or that white woman being tasered and arrested at her kids football game for refusing to wear a mask?”
Black twitter: Which video was more satisfying to watch—Brad Parscale being forcefully tackled and arrested by police or that white woman being tasered and arrested at her kids football game for refusing to wear a mask?
— Touré (@Toure) September 28, 2020
blocked, but the List comes for all, @toure.
✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼 pic.twitter.com/YxAHVMXkGA
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) September 29, 2020
When Touré mentioned the white woman, he was referencing an incident at a middle-school football game in Logan, Ohio, in which an officer told a woman she either needed to cover her face or leave. When she repeatedly refused both requests, the officer used a Taser to shock her, handcuff her and pull her away.
The woman’s attorney stated to WCMH, “Ms. Kitts was obviously alone with her children, outdoors, at a distance of much greater than six feet from anyone else. Thus, she broke no Ohio law, not even the Governor’s own legally-dubious health directives upon which the school relied.”
Touré has made headlines for tweets in the past. During the 2017 Super Bowl, as the Atlanta Falcons took what seemed like an insurmountable lead over the New England Patriots, Touré took advantage of the situation to exclaim that Democratic Congressman John Lewis was from Atlanta while Trump rooted for New England, as he had spoken of his friendship with Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady.
It was a premature exclamation, as it turned out.
As the nation watched, the Patriots, behind 28-3, pulled off the most stunning comeback in Super Bowl history — and possibly NFL history — by swarming the Falcons in the second half and winning in overtime 34-28.
This prompted some derisive responses to Touré on Twitter:
.@Toure pic.twitter.com/0oeFbQ7ZcM
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) February 6, 2017
@Ktywack1 yo, pic.twitter.com/kzk9zKXM2D
— Sean Clevenger aka Scorpio Assassin (@Jameron4evaSean) February 6, 2017
The enmity between Touré and President Trump goes back years; when Touré hosted MSNBC’s The Cycle in 2013, he and Trump got into an epic battle on Twitter after Touré linked to an ABC News article about Trump’s finances.
The Washington Times reported in January 2019, “A woman posting under the name ‘danimakeup’ commented on an Instagram post of Mr. Neblett’s podcast appearance, saying the journalist routinely made inappropriate remarks when she worked with him in 2017 for a Time Inc. show. ‘He couldn’t stop asking me to do anal, how I looked naked, if I had sex over the weekend, what it would be like to [expletive] me,’ Dani wrote, Essence reported. ‘I had to have the crew stay in the room [with] me while I got him ready … and when I left I called HR … he got fired instantly.’”
The Washington Times added, “A rep for Mr. Neblett told Essence that Mr. Neblett left Time Inc. because his contract ended.”
Neblett issued a statement saying, “On the show, our team, including myself, engaged in edgy, crass banter, that at the time I did not think was offensive for our tight-knit group. I am sorry for my language and for making her feel uncomfortable in any way.” He added, “As a lead on the show, I should have refrained from this behavior. I have learned and grown from this experience.”