Amy Schumer responded Monday to critics of her video parody of Beyoncé’s “Formation,” which the comedian released over the weekend to a smattering of social-media outrage for appropriating African-American themes.
“You know you that [expletive] when you cause all this conversation,” Schumer, 35, posted on Instagram, quoting a lyric from the song. “Thanks for the exclusive release Tidal!” she went on, referring to the streaming-video service owned by a coalition of artists including both Beyoncé and her music-mogul husband, Jay Z. “We had so much fun making this tribute,” Schumer said. “All love and women inspiring each other. #strongertogether.”
Goldie Hawn on Monday tweeted, “Watch Amy Schumer and I get in FORMATION in Hawaii with Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack. We had way too much fun!”
By then, however, critics had created the hashtag #AmySchumerGottaGoParty. Among the Twitter critics was Andrea Johnson who wrote, “It is weird to me that Amy Schumer thought a song about the police killing black people was perfect for a parody.” Victoria Weinstein, @peacebang, a Boston-area woman, wrote, “There is no possible excuse for Amy Schumer not to know the cultural significance of #Formation for black women. I hope this hurts her career.” African-American attorney and podcaster Imani Gandy, @AngryBlackLady, tweeted, “Like, what the [expletive] is wrong with Amy Schumer?! She gotta go.”
Titled “Get in Formation,” the video was shot in Hawaii, where Emmy Award-winner Schumer and Oscar-winner Hawn, 70, have finished shooting a mother-daughter comedy. The 2:45 video gives an unglamorous, sweat-stained version of the song, to which the cast lip-syncs. African-American creative director Marcus Russell Price directed.
Beyoncé has not commented on social media, and her spokeswoman was out of the country on a personal matter. Schumer’s spokeswoman referred Newsday to the comic’s Instagram post, which in addition to Schumer’s comments featured a black-and-white glam image by photographer Mark Seliger.
“Formation,” released Feb. 6, contains no explicit anti-police language and is an ode to celebrityhood and female empowerment. The song’s video, however, drew controversy for such images as Beyoncé atop a New Orleans police car slowly sinking, with her, below floodwaters; a line of police with helmets and flak jackets; and graffiti reading, “Stop shooting us.”
