Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesStacey Dash is having the last laugh.
At the 2016 Oscars Sunday night, host Chris Rock jokingly suggested that he had a solution to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. He decided to name Dash the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' new "director of our minority outreach program." Yes, this was the same woman who had recently denounced both Black History Month and the BET Awards. There were a few laughs as Dash stepped out to announce, "I cannot wait to help my people out!"
"Happy Black History Month!" she added. "Thank you."
The joke fell flat, and Twitter erupted in response.
In a video message inspired by Jimmy Kimmel's recurring "Mean Tweets" segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Dash read real fan tweets while backstage at the Dolby Theatre. "I just walked off stage from the Oscars where I got no applause, no boos, nothing. People were, I think, awestruck, which was a little disappointing, but you know, I did it because I wanted to. I stand in my position that I do, and Chris asked me to do it, and I love him and I support him. And I also think that I should be the head of diversity at the Oscars. I think I'm the perfect person to do that," the actress said. "But the backlash of that is I got a bunch of mean tweets, and I thought it would be a really good idea to read them to all of you so that you can see what I face."
Here is a sampling of the tweets Dash read:
• @ink_kid_smas: "I was hoping there was a trap door on the stage and @REALStaceyDash would fall through"
• @l0rdSav: "No one likes you"
• @njsista123: "You looked foolish and sounded dumb"
• @joefahad: "@REALStaceyDash actually stupid!?"
• @gurulec: "@REALStaceyDash you sucked on the Oscars like you do on @foxnews pointless"
• @JENNontheRocks: "I'm sick of your s--t. I'm pulling up"
Dash decided she needed to respond to @JENNontheRocks' tweet that very moment, saying, "Uh-oh. That seems like a threat. We better look out for that one. I think I have to report him."
After I got off the stage last night at the #Oscars, I thought I'd let you have a peak into my Twitter feed.
Posted by Stacey Dash on Monday, February 29, 2016
Why did Dash feel the need to bring these tweets to light?
"There are a lot of people that don't agree with me, and have a lot of varying things to say, which I will never live down and a lot of people in my life will use against me for the rest of my life. But here's the thing: I do what I do because I want to do it and because I believe in it, and it has nothing to do with race, and I wish you would stop saying that," the Clueless star said. "Everything that I do is because I believe in it, and I believe we are all equal, OK? I don't feel inferior nor do I feel superior. You should stop feeling that way, too. That's my suggestion."
"I'm very happy about what I did," she added, "and I'm proud of it."