Wendy Williams Disses Viola Davis' Natural Hair

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Y'all already know: I'm team #Viola.

I'm uber happy that Viola wore her natural hair on the red carpet at the 84th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday. Was super disappointed that she didn't win along with her co-star, Octavia Spencer. But hey, she wore her natural hair out on the friggin' red carpet. That made the the loss just a little bit easier to bear

And you know what? That was enough for me (as if I'm the one all up in her hair, lol).

So, count me as clueless when I heard the collective gasp in the natural hair community about Wendy Williams' comment that Davis' hair wasn't "formal"  for the red carpet. While doing red carpet commentary, Williams said this about Davis:

“You know, a lot of people used to say that natural hair wasn’t formal.”

For reals?

Though she usually rocks short wigs, Davis debuted her natural hair publicly a few weeks ago for a LA Times Magazine cover, then at the Black Women in  Hollywood Awards for Essence Magazine and finally, at the Academy Awards.

Why Wendy Was Out of Line

You could have kept that Wendy, cause most of your audience (read Caucasian folks) really don't understand what you just said. And they give less than a damn. But trust me, boo boo, I hear you loud and clear -- this from a woman who I've never seen wear her natural hair out under all those wigs and who I've heard say that she has "good" and long hair.

Not knocking that in the slightest, but why knock someone else's hair  -- even though it's the cattiest, most perceived slight, that way? You mad because Viola has the courage to wear her natural hair out -- and you don't?

What's The Real Issue?
We all know: Natural hair can be formal as any other style. You can do updos, formal, elegant styles, anything you choose. We all know this based on the styles shown on HairNista.com, CurlyNikki.com and countless others

Wendy really needs to educate herself about natural hair, and I'm sensing hate-tinged comments. Show me your natural hair once, Wendy, not a peek of it on your show, and then your comments will carry a bit more weight with me, K?  

Say you don't like her dress? OK, I'm cool with that. But her hair? From another black woman? That ain't cool, because I don't hear any other commenters talking about Angelina Jolie's straight hair as not being appropriate. 

Because that ish won't ever happen. 

Wendy could have kept that mess of a comment, because clearly millions of YouTubers, natural hair bloggers, natural hair fans and even Madison Avenue brands like Kmart, Allstate, Yahoo, eBay (and the list goes on) think entirely differently about natural hair -- enough to keep natural hair in heavy rotation on TV, the Internet and in magazine spreads.   

Why Davis' Hair On the Red Carpet is More than Just Hair

I'll be glad when we're at a point where wearing natural hair on the red carpet isn't special.  

But for right now? It is. Ditching the wig meant everything -- that she and countless other women of color are unashamed, unapologetic and unafraid to wear our natural hair. Davis' natural hair was the spotlight -- and, with the exception of Williams' comment, in a good way.

Natural hair, in all its textured glory, was on display.

That's huge, because in a society where the message in our community is to get rid of the kinks and curls any way possible -- Davis took a bold stance: natural hair means something.

HairNistas, you know I call it as I see it. And I don't make any apologies for it. I was surprised that it was a black woman -- a wig wearing black woman no less - who tried to check Davis. I was always taught that drama stays within your own household -- you handle your business there before you expose it to all the world to see.

That didn't happen.

Her comments played right into the hands of folks who could give less than a damn about our natural hair. That's some crazy internal black folks' ish -- and now it's easy to see why Viola felt skeptical at first about wearing her natural hair. And that ain't cool.

Hair Ettiquete, No?

Count me as a Davis fan. And I'm a Wendy fan, too. But I'm so disappointed by her comments about natural hair. Negative comments about your hair is one thing. But another woman's natural hair? That's crossing the line. 

Because unless you wearing a ratchet weave, I'm pretty much keeping my mouth shut -- whether you're relaxed or natural.

Really, tho, how can I be surprised by this. This is from the same woman who last month told Brandy that if she mated with a certain celeb, the baby would have "good" hair in front of a national TV audience. 

Really, Wendy? Really?

What do you think of Wendy's comments?