There’s been a firestorm of controversy this week over Caitlyn Jenner’s landmark win for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at this year’s ESPYs. And although there have been a number of stars who have praised the former Olympian for her win and her speech, one celeb who is not happy about it is D.L. Hughley and he blasted Jenner in a recent interview.
While chatting with TMZ photographers, Hughley explained why he feels Jenner doesn’t live up to the courageous legacy of Arthur Ashe.
“Arthur Ashe was from Richmond, Virginia. He was symbol of courage. He fought in the South in a very segregated profession. He fought AIDS with dignity and honor. And Caitlyn Jenner put on a dress. I don’t think it’s the same thing,” Hughley said.
Hughley then explained why he felt Lauren Hill, a college basketball player who passed away from cancer this year, was more deserving of the award.
“I think that girl, Lauren Hill, was courage in the name of sports,” Hughley said.
He added, “I think Arthur Ashe and Caitlyn Jenner have very little in common.”
The conversation then shifted to Jenner’s looks and when asked if he thinks Jenner is beautiful, Hughley replied, “no.”
“Yeah, in a Ms. Doubtfire kind of way. Stop it,” Hughley joked.
Hughely then criticized the media for harping on Jenner’s looks while simultaneously attacking Serena Williams’ looks.
“In the last month, we had the media telling Caitlyn Jenner she was beautiful and that [Serena Williams] looked like a man. That was a little weird to me. The man looks like a woman and the woman looks like a man. That was ridiculous to me. I think Serena is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen on the tennis court and Bruce Jenner looks like every P.E. teacher I’ve ever had,” Hughley said.
Clearly people are still divided over Jenner, but we hope that people stop trying to pit Jenner and other women against each other, especially when they don’t have beef with each other, and start taking the media to task for their skewed and biased coverage of these celebrities. Because, in all honesty, Jenner, Hill and Williams all deserve to shine in the public spotlight and they all earned that right without having to fight each other for it. Or, more accurately, without the world saying there’s only space for one of them to shine and be praised.
