Jamelia Condemns British Media For Racially Biased Reporting Style

As one of the U.K’s highest-selling Urban Pop acts, Jamelia has enjoyed a long and fruitful career fuelled by fans who now support her business endeavours outside of music.

Unfortunately, they have now been forced to support the performer through a difficult time caused by the British media’s long-running habit of tying her to criminal activity she has nothing to do with.

Full story below…

Since rising to fame in the 90s, the performer has often seen her name used to generate attention for stories about those of her former relatives who have criminal ties.

She has had enough, and penned this open letter to explain why.

How was your weekend?

Mine should have been one FULL of celebration. My youngest daughter turned 1 on Thursday, my Mum celebrated her birthday on Friday, and yesterday, my Grandparents were having a party for their 60th Wedding Anniversary. We had planned to celebrate this weekend with them all.

These celebrations were unexpectedly tarnished as a huge cloud descended over us all, in the form of a barrage of lazy articles being flung out by every national newspaper in the country, linking me to a 2015 “gangland” killing.

The link? My mother had a relationship (never married) with the offender’s father when I was 2 years old – I’ll be 38 in January.

I have never dismissed or denied my connections, but I find the fact that I am always used as the peg or promotional tool for these stories to be both damaging and careless.

Let me set the scene. On Friday afternoon (my Mum’s birthday) I was shopping with my eldest daughter for Christmas decorations. We were also passing the time as I was due to deliver a speech at a local school that evening about an initiative I am launching to inspire and empower inner city kids, like myself. Just one of many I have done in recent months.

At 2:33pm, I get a call from my manager, asking me to urgently look at an email. It was an article about an awful crime that had been committed, the ins and out of the incident, and a statement from the judge.

The chilling part? The fact that my name is the first name in the headline of the article. And not just that article, but… Every. Single. Article reporting on this story.

She added…

I have never attempted to justify or downplay the magnitude of the crimes in these stories. In fact I have on several occasions, condemned it. However, these articles cause me to live in fear that someone may seek revenge on me or my family due to these ‘apparent links’, despite being completely oblivious to, and disassociated with, all aspects of these cases and those involved. In one paper they even created a chart, which regurgitated past stories they chose to associate me with.

They don’t print stories about the speeches I do, or the initiatives I have launched and participated-in for schools and young children up and down the country. They don’t cover my charity work, and the time I donate for good causes and things close to my heart. They don’t write about my appointment to a house of commons panel helping to create positive community change. They don’t write about the things I share with the sole purpose of inspiring those who may need it. You don’t write about the fact that I have dedicated my entire career to helping and empowering others. I have never gone out of my way to hurt anyone.

She made her way to the U.K’s Channel 4 News to reveal why she believes the attacks are racially motivated.

"I am being vilified, my daughters are affected. I've worked hard…my white counterparts do not get this level of abuse."

The singer Jamelia has accused media outlets of using her name as clickbait to encourage people to read a story about a man convicted of a gangland murder. pic.twitter.com/DgvhJy9cx7

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) December 17, 2018