Marlon Wayans Speaks Out After Facing Backlash For His Comments Surrounding Montgomery Riverfront Brawl: ‘Why Would I Criticize Black People For Defending Themselves?’

August 8, 2023 by Ariel Whitely in Film with 0 Comments

Marlon Wayans

Marlon Wayans Speaks Out After Facing Backlash For His Comments Surrounding Montgomery Riverfront Brawl: ‘Why Would I Criticize Black People For Defending Themselves?’

Actor Marlon Wayans is clearing the air after getting blasted for his reaction surrounding the recent riverfront brawl in Montgomery.

Today (Aug. 8) Marlon Wayans, 51, took to his Instagram account to address backlash he’s currently facing for his comments regarding the now-viral fight that took place at a boating dock in Alabama.

Marlon Wayans

As you may know, on August 5, a significant number of individuals engaged in a full out fist brawl after a pontoon boat refused to move, despite a dock worker instructing to do so. From there, a shirtless white man and a Black man who appears to be in a uniform engage in a heated confrontation. The worker throws off his hat after being struck by the shirtless man, who soon gets reinforcements to jump the dock employee. A group of 4 white individuals then charge the alleged dock worker, with one of them tackling him to the floor. Footage of the incident shows the individuals get off a number of punches as people can be heard screaming for someone to help the worker.

As witnesses watched the situation unfold, it didn’t take long for individuals to arrive as back-up to rectify the wrongs done to the dock worker. At that point, the waterfront became filled with individuals seemingly seeking vengeance against the workers’ assailants. As a result, multiple fights broke out across the dock, with one vengeance seeker picking up a chair and bashing several of the assailants over the head.

These white people jumped this black security guard at the Riverfront. The staff got off the boat and it turned into WWE Smackdown. I’m so proud of Montgomery ?? pic.twitter.com/4DG5bShXfz

— Housatlantavegas (@_dreadadon) August 6, 2023

According to a recent report, 13 people were arrested and brought in for questioning after the brawl but they were all released. After further investigation, three white men have been charged with 3rd-degree assault for the incident; Richard Roberts, 48, Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25.

In Marlon Wayans initial post that has sparked controversy, the comedian made a reference to Jason Aldea’s newest song “Try That in a Small Town,” which caused an uproar online after the country music singer was accused of releasing a racially charged song and music video. In the post, Wayan’s seemingly used the song’s lyrics as a message towards individuals that incite violence. Accompanied by a clip of the headlining brawl, he captioned the post,

“How ’bout we NOT “try that in a small town”…. Sh*t silly bro… let’s all just be love NOT war”

Following his comments on the Montgomery fight, Wayans found himself in slew of controversy after people accused him of criticizing Black people. The entertainer recently took the time to clarify his comments and said,

“Why would I criticize Black people for defending themselves? That’s the thing about social media man. It’s left for interpretation. Y’all tripping. Don’t make no f*cking sense. None at all. I shouldn’t even address it, it’s that stupid.”

Wayans continued,

“But, you know, people want to make articles interpretation. Do it. I dont care. Black people know I love Black people. I’m Black.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marlon Wayans (@marlonwayans)

In a follow-up post, Wayans doubled down on his comments that his entire post was taken out of context.

He expressed,

“Why the f*ck would I criticize Black people for defending themselves? I’m Black. The f*ck? Nobody knows irony anymore huh? I guess that just went out the window. It’s the irony of the song. Stupid *sses.”