Singer Michelle Williams is tired of people mistaking her for actress Michelle Williams.
The former Destiny’s Child member took to Instagram this week to ask social media users to stop confusing her with the Fosse/Verdon star, who won the lead actress in a limited series or movie Emmy Award on Sunday night.
“How come when y’all are tagging and congratulating a person, do y’all see that I’m black?” the Grammy-winning performer said on an Instagram Live video Monday. “When you go to my profile, when you search for the ‘Michelle Williams,’ I am black. OK? I ain’t mixed with nothing. I ain’t mixed with Persian, Russian, I am black.”
The singer, 40, told her followers she’s been getting “cursed out” on social media by commenters angry at the actress for her Emmys acceptance speech, calling for equal pay for women, especially women of color.
“I am trying to figure out, ‘Why in the world am I getting cursed out in my comments for Michelle Williams’ speech?’ which I thought was her truth. I thought it was awesome,” the singer said. “I thought she was factual — I could be wrong — but yeah, I just told this woman a few minutes ago on my Instagram, I was like, ‘I’m so sorry that my namesake upset you, but can’t you see that I’m black?'”
So, the folks who are pissed and pressed about Michelle Williams’s (Actress) moving and brilliant #Emmy speech are tagging and aiming their anger at Michelle Williams (Singer), and she is fed up! pic.twitter.com/d7NAQyBndm
— Shar Jossell (@SharSaysSo) September 24, 2019
During her speech, the 39-year-old actress thanked FX and Fox 21 TV Studios for paying her the same as her co-star Sam Rockwell.
She urged other employers to treat women with respect, and pay them the same as men for equal work.
“Next time a woman, and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterpart — tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her, believe her. Because one day she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing her to succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it,” she said.
The actress made national headlines in 2017 after it was revealed that she was paid the SAG minimum of $80 per day for reshoots of the film All the Money in the World, after Kevin Spacey was fired from the project and replaced by Christopher Plummer.
In contrast, Williams’ co-star Mark Wahlberg received a reported $1.5 million for reshoots.
After learning about the difference in pay, Williams said she felt “paralyzed.”
