Quantasia Sharpton has become a viral sensation for publicly stepping forward with allegations that Usher exposed her to the risk of contracting herpes.

Quantasia, and her celebrity attorney, Lisa Bloom, held a press conference on August 7th, during which Quantasia claimed that her sexual rendezvous with Usher occurred at her hotel after attending one of his concerts on her 19th birthday.

The internet only took away two things from her conference:

1. She never contracted the herpes virus

and

2. Her BBW size.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on Quantasia’s credibility, especially after she posted on Facebook about needing money a week prior to the press conference, but why rip a black woman to shreds over her appearance?

Rihanna can break the internet for her Crop Over pictures showing off her newfound thickness, but a larger black woman gets fat-shamed to hell and back. If Quantasia looked like a generic Instagram model with an hourglass frame, no one would bat an eyelash about whether Usher could have been attracted to her. She would be considered “bad,” and the public shaming would involve degrading comments on her promiscuity—which is no better than the fat-shaming that Quantasia actually received.

It seemed like the whole world had something to say about her weight, including comedian Lil Duval. Duval is known for being unapologetically himself; the type to never bite his tongue on anything. So he had no problem referring to Quantasia as an “offensive lineman” on his Instagram.

As a black man, he fed right into society’s problematic culture of fat-shaming, women in particular. The only person who was bold enough to defend Quantasia’s size was Quantasia herself, as she was quick to clap back with shots at Duval and his mother.

The truth will eventually come to light on the herpes allegations against Usher, and a new trending topic will take its place, but hopefully Quantasia will serve as a conversation starter in the black community for why fuller-sized black women are generally deemed unlovable, and forced to the very outskirts of the beauty spectrum.

Courtney King

Writing since August 2017 · 1 story contributed