Entertainment
The Voice UK’s Will.i.am urges viewers to ‘stop Asian hate’ in impassioned speech after Georgia shootings
The Voice’s Will.i.am has urged viewers to ‘stop Asian hate’ with an impassioned speech after the recent shootings in Georgia.
It comes after a 21-year-old man has been arrested after a two-hour massacre saw eight people shot dead at massage parlors in Atlanta, a majority of them women of Asian descent.
Will.i.am performed the Black Eyed Peas song Where is the Love? With contestant Okulaja on Saturday’s The Voice final, before delivering an emotional speech to viewers.
After speaking about the relevance of the song’s lyrics, Will said that people must learn to ‘stop Asian hate’, adding that it ‘makes no sense’.
The speech was received gratefully by viewers, who praised his words.
‘Will.i.am just proper choked me up!’ one said.
‘Okulaja and Will did amazing,’ another said. ‘Where is the love is such an incredible song and Will raising awareness for stop asian hate was so important.’
Will is the latest star to speak out after the Asian community in Atlanta was targeted earlier this week in the horrific attack.
The Office star Mindy Kaling was one of many stars who shared their dismay over the attack as she tweeted: ‘The targeting of our Asian brothers and sisters is sickening, but not surprising given the normalizing of anti-Asian hate speech in the past year. We have to #StopAsianHate, enough is enough!’
Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock in Georgia, was arrested earlier this week after a dramatic police car chase which resulted in the suspect’s car being shunted off the road.
The eight victims were killed in three separate shootings at two spas and a massage parlour in and around Atlanta.
In the first shooting two Asian women, one white woman and a white man were killed at Young’s Asian Massage, in the north of the city.
Then in short succession, three Asian women were shot at Gold Spa, before another Asian woman was killed at Aromatherapy Spa. These parlours were around 30 miles away from the first.
The Voice UK is available to watch on ITVHub.
Got a Story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
