Da Brat has responded to recent online backlash about the name she called her lone potential Black sperm donor, insisting that she meant no harm when making the remark.
Stopping by The Tamron Hall Show with her wife, Jesseca Harris-Dupart (aka Big Booty Judy), on Thursday (May 11), the Hip Hop pioneer insisted that her “Jiminy Cricket” remark was made in jest, meant to signify the frustration the pair was feeling when they couldn’t find a suitable genetic prospect for their impending child.
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“We thought that when it got to the donor part, it would be a breeze,” she said to the longtime journalist. “I didn’t think it would be offensive to anybody. I cracked jokes about almost everybody that I saw. That one just happened to make it into the show.”
She continued: “I wasn’t trying to be mean, or like, say anything negative about Black people. We were looking for a Black donor. We’re Black. We wanted a Black donor. It was just misconstrued and taken way out of context. I didn’t think it would bother anybody, or else, I would have taken it out.”
In a recent interview with The Root, the married couple revealed they narrowed down their shortlist of sperm donors to 300, and only one was Black.
The mothers-to-be opted against using the sole Black donor, though, over qualms about his appearance. “That [dude] looked like Jiminy Cricket,” Da Brat joked. “I was like, ‘I’m sorry but that wasn’t gonna be my choice.’”
Instead, the couple ultimately decided to use a white sperm donor, whose good looks and height they’re hoping will be passed down to their unborn son.
“Because we didn’t have a lot to choose from, he definitely wasn’t Black,” Brat added. “But I think we did a great job with picking. He’s handsome, he’s tall and I think he’s going to look beautiful with my wife’s egg.”
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After the interview was published, Harris-Dupart took to Baller Alert’s comments section on Instagram to defend her and Da Brat’s decision to choose a white surrogate for their pregnancy.
“TO BE CLEAR – for all those that are not aware of the MANY things we weren’t aware of, here it is: black men make up less than 5% of the donation pool,” she began. “Furthermore with genetic testing ( that is SPECIFICALLY for looking into the diseases that humans carry ) and inputting my stats in ALL of the cryobanks -it went from THOUSANDS to about 300 and of that only 1 was black – and he also, unfortunately, wasn’t a perfect match.”
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She added: “So we actually waited a few weeks to see if the pool increased – but unfortunately with the time frame we had to choose within 6-8 weeks and there was no more new black donors that fit within the perfect fit with my genetic testing. Hopefully this HEADLINE that people are running with will EDUCATE more people that there’s a HUGE gap in the sperm pool. Everyone have a great rest of your day. [pink heart emojis] [Eyes emoji].”
