This past weekend, Tina Turner, found herself on the receiving end of widespread backlash over an interview she did decades ago,
Turns out Tina Turner hated her trip to Africa
It’s not clear where this interview snippet was taken from, but we can speculate that this may have been around the time Turner went on her Wildest Dreams world tour in 1996.
The now-80-year-old did four shows in South Africa, in April of that year. According to an archive Reuters article, all four venues in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg (two nights) were packed to capacity.
Reports claim Turner felt “great and [enjoyed] the reaction of South African audiences who [gave] her a rapturous welcome.”
Watch: Grandma of Rock describes Africa in archive interview
What everyone didn’t know, was how the grandma of rock n’ roll. then 56 years old, absolutely dreaded the experience.
Here’s the controversial video where Turner shared her experience in Africa.
Social media divided on Turner’s comments
The video resurfaced on social media on Thursday 3 September. For days, users have kept the discussion alive on the words that have come to haunt the 80-year-old Swiss-American icon.
Those who judged Turner, did so in defence of the African continent. Those who opposed, did so in defence of Turner’s honour.
“Let’s be honest here. Africa is generally devoid of the “First-world” aesthetic flair that Tina Turner is used to. Africa has fancy restaurants and places of entertainment but to people like Tina, the amenities are semi-agrarian. I don’t blame her. Africans are not lazy though,” one user, @KeizyZulu, wrote.
Another went as far as claiming that Turner was used as an instrument of division by ‘white’ media.
“I grew up in Africa and as you always say, Tariq, Tina Turner was probably a tool for the white media and due to its dominance even in Africa. This shaped perception and it did not need to be a lot of tools saying this denigrating message. Now the black media is pushing change,” @Gear7Bureau tweeted.
Here are some more reactions from people who came across the controversial video: