KJ Apa is defending is his decision to remain publicly silent after a critic accused him of not doing enough to support the Black Lives Matter movement – but his response may have stirred up even more controversy.
It all started when comedian Elijah Daniel responded to a Twitter user’s suggestion about watching the 2018 film The Hate U Give, which starred Amandla Sternberg – KJ Apa played her onscreen boyfriend in the movie.
“i love that movie but i do have a question, completely unrelated to the beef i formerly had with him, if KJ was the co-star of that movie why is he so silent?” Elijah responded. “he has such a massive young audience and got paid to be in a movie about police brutality and … posted a black square?”
KJ was among the many social media users who joined Blackout Tuesday on June 2, posting a black square on his Instagram account with the hashtag #blackouttuesday.
He’s mostly stayed silent on BLM matters beyond that, but did respond to Elijah’s tweet.
“I don’t need to post about my opinions and beliefs in order for them to be real to me,” the Riverdale star responded. “I support black lives – but I don’t feel it’s necessary to prove to people I do by posting my attendance at these protests.”
However, it seems netizens weren’t so happy with his response, with some pointing out that he could do so much with his huge platform.
“you’re causing more harm by staying silent than you would if you publicly announced your support for BLM. it’s not that hard to say that you support the movement, donate, and provide resources for others. use your platform for good,” one person tweeted.
“It’s not “proving”, it’s showing solidarity and awareness. You’re famous, use that platform to help others and to maybe educate your younger fans that might not have “gotten” it,” another shared.
“if dylan o’brien can post about blm after years of posting nothing. kj apa can post more than a black square,” someone commented.
Elijah also replied to his response, saying, “I didn’t say you needed to prove anything. This was a question about you not using your extremely large platform after being paid to be in a film about police brutality.”
Others pointed out that his Riverdale co-stars have been actively involved in BLM protests and are using their platforms to help spread awareness on social media.
“lili: attending protests and shares her platform with activists from the black community
cole: attending protests and posts links to petitions and donations
vanessa and ashleigh: actively vocal about blm and fighting for what’s right
cami and mads: attending protests
kj: apa,” one person tweeted.
“your black costars have been so vocal about the racism and discrimination they felt while working on show, the least u could’ve done is comfort and support them but here u are trying to justify your silence,,, says a lot about what kind of a person u are,” another wrote.
“KJ Apa has been silent for weeks, but the moment he said something, he just put himself under fire. He could have humbly recognized his inaction and listened and done better, but he just defended his apathy and inaction. 😬,” one person wrote.
Find out more about how KJ’s Riverdale co-stars and other celebrities have gotten involved in the BLM movement.
