Christopher Reid–also known as Kid, one half of the bygone party-rap duo Kid ‘n Play–has apologized for his impersonation of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in a planned sketch for Fox Sports 1’s Speak for Yourself that never actually aired. “Let me be clear-the skit and photo were not meant to disrespect Colin’s message or political stance,” he wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. “Rather, we wanted to spoof the media’s treatment of him and the circus that has been created…Anyone who knows me knows where I stand on Colin Kaepernick–exactly where he stands.”
Last week, a minor controversy erupted when Speak for Yourself host and conservative sports prognosticator Jason Whitlock tweeted a photo of himself with a Kaepernick impersonator who was later revealed as Reid, wearing an afro wig and raising his fist in a black power salute. Because Whitlock has publicly criticized Kaepernick’s pro-black politics in the past–and because some observers initially mistook Reid for a white guy in the photo–the image was rightfully interpreted as an attempt to ridicule Kaep’s public stances against racism and police violence.
In his statement, Reid acknowledged that Whitlock isn’t exactly a hero of the Black Lives Matter movement, but argued that his experiences as a black man from New York City put him squarely on Kaepernick’s side of the debate. “Being born and raised in NYC I grew up seeing and reading about dozens of acts of police brutality,” he wrote. “And the same way we know the names of Tamir Rice, Philando Castile and Michael Brown today, I grew up knowing the same fate had come to Eleanor Bumpurs, Amadou Diallo, and Abner Louima. Sadly, little has changed.”
Read Reid’s full statement below.
