Tpppppp
Does Tyrese Gibson understand that the point of a press tour is to make people want to see your movie? The various appearances and interviews he’s done while promoting his new film, “1992,” have made headlines for the wrong reasons. From his uncomfortably personal “The Breakfast Club” appearance, to explaining why he’s still mad at Ving Rhames over their characters’ relationship in “Baby Boy,” to his newest revelation about how he and his mother, Priscilla Murray Gibson, made ends meet when he was younger.
While appearing on the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast, the “Fast & Furious” star explained that when he was eight, his mother made him pretend to have special needs to get extra money from the government. Tyrese called it his “first acting gig,” while host Wallo described Priscilla as his “first director.” Apparently, the scheme earned them around $760. He revealed that she also did this with his brother. The crazy story starts around 25:20 in the video.
Wow, there’s a lot to unpack here. First of all, his use of derogatory slur the R-word as he describes his actions is deeply offensive. If he doesn’t know this, someone needs to tell him immediately. Second, the way he and the hosts are laughing their asses off like this is all one big joke says that they have no idea how difficult it is for neurodivergent individuals to navigate some everyday interactions, including government bureaucracy. Finally, this is something we didn’t need to know. What was the point of telling this story? Tyrese should’ve taken this one to the grave, because it doesn’t serve anyone for him to put this out there.
As he recalls his experience with the employee who was evaluating him, Tyrese uses several offensive words and stereotypes, seemingly oblivious to how hurtful this entire conversation is. Between their tear-filled laughter, the three men note that his mother was just doing what she had to do to get by, but none of them acknowledge how disrespectful it is to the people this money is actually meant to help.
While Tyrese’s open nature is admirable, we don’t need to know everything about his life to enjoy his work. You can keep some stories and feelings to yourself. In fact, at this point, we’d prefer if he did.