Jameela Jamil has claimed there are more high-profile celebrities who are ‘scared’ to speak out on Black Lives Matter out of fear of being ‘cancelled’.
The actress and activist, 34, spoke about the movement and those who are fearful to speak out during a Grazia interview with transgender model Munroe Bergdorf.
The Good Place star said there are stars that she speaks to on a ‘daily basis’ who she knows could do so much good if they weren’t afraid of ‘getting it wrong’.
Candid: Jameela Jamil has claimed there are more high-profile celebrities who are ‘scared’ to speak out on Black Lives Matter out of fear of being ‘cancelled’ (GRAZIA, on sale Tuesday 30 June)
Jameela told Munroe: ‘There are people so much more powerful than me who could do so much good but they’re scared of being cancelled.
‘I know this because I speak to them on a daily basis and they all want to help but they’re so afraid of getting something wrong.’
During the interview, they also discussed the recent I Take Responsibility video, which saw stars including Jameela’s co-star Kristen Bell acknowledge their part in perpetuating racism.
The group, which also featured Sarah Paulson and Aaron Paul, received backlash for taking part in the PSA on white privilege, which has been described as ‘cringe-inducing’.
Chat: The actress and activist, 34, spoke about the movement and those who are fearful to speak out during a Grazia interview with transgender model Munroe Bergdorf
Commenting on the video, Munroe said: ‘I felt their pain with the ‘I take responsibility’ video. It was so cringe but you could tell their hearts are in the right place and they wanted to do something, but it was lacking a call to action.
‘The best thing to do is to do what you [Jameela] do and pass the microphone rather than speaking loudly yourself. It’s about amplifying the voices of people who’ve been doing this for decades.’
Referencing her friendships with some of the famous faces in the video, Jameela said: ‘I like some of the people in that video and I don’t think any of them had bad intentions, the problem is it appears very performative.
Jameela continued by adding that people want to see real action rather than a video where you had ‘ring lit’ your face.
She said: ‘Like you want to show people you care, rather than engaging in actual action. Nobody gives a flying f**k about celebrities and their ring lights. They want money and legislative pressure for change.’
Honest: The Good Place star said there are stars that she speaks to on a ‘daily basis’ who she knows could do so much good if they weren’t afraid of ‘getting it wrong
Alongside the interview, Jameela posed for a series of stylish shots for the magazine, where she looked stunning in a series of untouched snaps.
Jameela has become a huge voice for body positivity in recent years and regularly talks about how she will only work with outlets who don’t edit her photos.
Quick-fix diet tricks and products are high on Jameela’s hit list of items she targets in her fight against forcing women to believe they need to change their bodies.
She admitted that she is concerned this has only heightened during lockdown, and said: ‘I feel very concerned seeing celebrities, particularly women, talking about their weight gain as if it’s something ghastly and I’ve been concerned about the scary rise in diet and fasting apps and detox products being sold.
Jameela told Munroe (pictured): ‘There are people so much more powerful than me who could do so much good but they’re scared of being cancelled’
‘This is normally when they start to freak us out about our beach body. Because they can’t do that, they’re trying to freak us out about our survival-of-a- pandemic body. How f***ked up is that!’
During the chat, Munroe asked Jameela if there’s anything she has learned about herself while in quarantine, and she replied: ‘For the last couple of years, I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to learn and I think that contributed to a lot of the mistakes I’ve made.
‘This has given me space to really investigate, learn, read and educate myself. I was so busy [before], I didn’t have time to really know what I was talking about all the time and I feel very grateful for this pause in being able to, hopefully, become a less problematic, less ignorant person.’
Discussing how she plans to change moving forward, she added: ‘I think I’ll come out of this a more calm, thoughtful and careful person, more aware of the damage of having a 280-character Twitter word count.
‘Now I have the podcast and YouTube channel I don’t have to compact all of my thoughts and that’s amazing. Now I have time and space for nuance and context, because without that I got f***ked on Twitter.’
‘It’s understandable for the public to not trust powerful people, so I’ve always known that everyone has always read the most evil possible intention into my every move; they always think I’m manipulative or I have an ulterior motive. No one can believe that I would genuinely just want to try and help.’
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Wow! Alongside the interview, Jameela posed for a series of stylish shots for the magazine, where she looked stunning in a series of untouched snaps