Da Brat & Jesseca ‘Judy’ Dupart Continue to Respond to White Sperm Donor Backlash

Da Brat and wife Jesseca ‘Judy’ Dupart, stars of WEtv show Brat Loves Judy are clearing the air on Brat’s recent comments on a potential Black sperm donor. The couple, who married last year, appeared on The Tamron Hall Show this week to discuss their pregnancy journey.

During the sit-down, Hall questioned Brat, legal name Shawntae Harris-Dupart, about her ‘joke’ given in an interview with The Root, which has since been removed. The 49-year-old, who recently performed at Lovers & Friends Festival in Las Vegas, told the publication that the only option for a Black sperm donor presented wasn’t visually pleasing.

“That [dude] looked like Jiminy Cricket,” Harris-Dupart told The Root. “I was like, ‘I’m sorry but that wasn’t gonna be my choice.’ … But I think we did a great job with picking. He’s handsome, he’s tall, and I think he’s going to look beautiful with my wife’s egg.”

As the comment was met with backlash alleging colorism, Brat pushed back, telling Hall that she and Dupart originally planned on having a Black sperm donor.

“I didn’t think it would be offensive to anybody,” Harris-Dupart said about calling the man “Jiminy Cricket.” “I cracked jokes about almost everybody that I saw, that one just happened to make it in the show. I wasn’t trying to be mean or say anything negative about Black people. We were looking for a Black donor. We’re Black, we wanted a Black donor. So it was just misconstrued and taken way out of context.”

She continued, “I had no idea people were going to be so offended, but I meant no harm whatsoever. We wanted a Black donor — I was just like, ‘What?’ People take things and run with it. … People who know me know that I didn’t mean any harm. So if I offended anybody, I do apologize. But it was a joke between me and my wife and the doctor, we joke like that, we play around, so it wasn’t meant to be offensive in any way.”

Dupart, who told Hall that she tried to protect her wife from internet headlines, also addressed the controversy in a May 3 Instagram post.

“I’m more on social than she is and there were things that I was really trying to avoid her from seeing,” Dupart told Hall. “They had comments that said, ‘I just hope you guys miscarry.’ … So I’m trying to delete a lot of stuff so she can’t see it on my page and she can’t see it on her page because it was extreme hate … Oh my god, if nothing else at this time, I feel like this should be at least an educational moment so our people aren’t as ignorant.”