Race has and will always be a hot button issue. A nonchalant comment can be turned into World War 3, depending on who you’re speaking too. One of the things that really get under people’s skin is interracial relationships. Couples with different amounts of melanin have to deal with random angry looks. The ridicule and scrutiny is intensified when one or both of the parties in the relationship are under the microscope of Hollywood.
In the past, Black actresses were slandered for stepping out with white men. In these “post-racial” times, it’s commonplace to see a black woman with a white man. Black women have decided to stop complaining about black men leaving them for white women when they get an ounce of success. Black women are now playing the interracial dating game without shame. With the recent split of Zoe Saldana and her fiancee, Keith Britton, The Urban Daily decided to offer up a list of eleven starlets who have no issue with bringing a white guy home for the holidays.
Garcelle Beauvais
Known for her roles on The Jamie Foxx Show and NYPD Blue, Garcelle Beauvais married Mike Nilon in 2001. Nilon and Beauvais looked like the perfect couple. Fans sympathized with them as they struggled with infertility for nearly five years. By 2007, the infertility issue was laid to rest as Garcelle gave birth to twins. By the time 2010 came around, the actress and her agent husband were in the headlines after she found out he had been having an affair for five years. Beauvais didn’t get mad, she got even. She embarrassed her husband by emailing his co-workers and detailing his affair. Didn’t Redd Foxx say something about not crossing Creole women in Harlem Nights? I’ll take a guess that Mike Nilon didn’t take that advice.
Diana Ross
The ultimate diva, Diana Ross, has never been shy about dating and marrying white men. If you think about it, her relationships parallel the happenings in her career. Ms. Ross was messing with Berry Gordy when she was recording music with The Supremes. She gave the legendary record executive a daughter in 1971, but gave the child the last name of her white husband, Robert Ellis Silberstein. It wasn’t revealed until years later that Diana’s eldest daughter, Rhonda, was Berry Gordy’s. After divorcing Silberstein in 1977, Diana Ross upgraded herself by trading nuptials with billionaire, Arne Naess, Jr. The power couple parted ways in 2000 and their children use Ross as their surname.
Paula Patton
Paula Patton is one of the sexiest women in the game right now. Plenty of guys are hating that she is married to blue-eyed soul singer, Robin Thicke, instead of them. This is a couple you have no choice but to respect. They met when they were teenagers and remained together through every false start of their respective careers. In a way, Thicke introduced Patton to the world. When he dropped his overlooked debut album, A Beautiful World, it was Paula’s naked body gracing its cover. Thicke expressed his feelings about the drama the couple has endured on the 2008 song, “Dreamworld.” “There would be no black and white, the world just treat my wife right. We could walk down in Mississippi and no one would look at us twice,” he sang. It’s looking like we’re slowly but surely inching toward his dream.
Kerry Washington
When it comes to Kerry Washington’s experiences in the love department, life has imitated art. Washington landed on moviegoers’ radar as Chenille Reynolds in Save The Last Dance. Kerry played the sister of a guy in an interracial relationship. Her character felt some trepidation about her brother’s choice, but grew to accept the relationship. In real life, she was engaged to an actor named David Moscow from 2004 until 2007. It was alleged she was dating with Common once her engagement was broken off. The only evidence of the rapper and actress being together was her appearance in his video for “I Want You.” Would it be considered reaching if we used that as proof? Yes? We thought so.
Diahann Carroll
There’s no mistaking Diahann Carroll is a treasure in Black Hollywood. She always plays her characters perfectly. Having been married four times, it’s easy to say finding the one hasn’t been a walk in the park. Her most attention grabbing marriage was to singer, Vic Damone. Carroll admitted her marriage to Damone was a turbulent one. They wed in 1987 and legally separated in 1991. The pair attempted a reconciliation soon after, but officially divorced in 1996. Was Dominique Deveraux too much for the Italian-American crooner? Maybe so.
Janet Jackson
In 1989, Janet Jackson dropped an album with the mission to rid the world of color lines and racial boundaries. The notions that drove Rhythm Nation 1814 have manifested themselves in Janet’s love life. After annulling her quickie union to James Debarge in 1985, Jackson married Rene Elizondo Jr. in 1991. The public didn’t discover the couple exchanged vows until Elizondo filed for divorce in 2000. Janet came back to the “dark side” when she began dating hip-hop producer, Jermaine Dupri. Seven years and a creepy tattoo later, Janet was hit by jungle fever again. She’s been involved with Wissam Al Mana for a while now. Damn, there goes my dream of marrying her!
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg has never been considered the classic beauty. Despite that fact, she has always been able to bag a man. Whoopi entered into an affair with actor, Ted Danson in 1993. Their relationship was marred by a few media firestorms. Danson infamously roasted her at the Friar’s Club dressed in blackface. On top of the negative attention from the comedy roast, Danson and Goldberg’s affair led to Danson’s divorce, which was one of the most expensive divorces of the time. Ted Danson paid $30 million to ex-wife for his few months with Whoopi. She must have a diamond encrusted box. Goldberg must really know what she’s doing behind closed doors.
Rutina Wesley
To True Blood fans, Rutina Wesley is the angry black best friend to the main character, Sookie. Wesley’s introduction in the first episode featured her cussing out a white man for saying her name was pretty. Rutina’s character, Tara, continues to scream on the man by telling him she was named after a plantation. In the real world, Rutina Wesley doesn’t have an issue with a white man trying to spit game. She’s happily married to actor, Jacob Fishel. So much for life imitating art in this scenario.
Stacey Dash
Since entering the acting game, Stacey Dash has covered the walls of every black male teenager born in the 80s. Although Dash had plenty of black men checking for her, those gorgeous green eyes were focused on white guys. Brian Lovell took Dash’s hand in marriage in 1999 and gave it back in 2005. After a brief union with James Maby, Stacey thought she found the one in Emmanuel Xuereb. Their matrimony ended last year with Dash filing a restraining order. Inquiring minds want to know what she does to these guys to make them go so crazy?
Halle Berry
She might be the first Black actress to win the Best Actress Oscar, but she has begun to follow the trend in dating white men. Halle Berry’s love life has been well documented. Berry has been in dead end romances with Wesley Snipes, Christopher Williams, David Justice, Eric Benet, and Michael Ealy. With all of that, it’s no wonder Halle decided to add some milk to her coffee. Gabriel Aubry gave Halle something no man had given her before–a child. Once things went left for those two, French actor, Olivier Martinez became her resident arm candy.
Lena Horne
The legendary Lena Horne is revered for her beauty, grace, and performing abilities. Ms. Horne was also known for her honesty. After a short lived marriage to Louis Jordan Jones, Horne wed music conductor and arranger, Lennie Heyton. In her autobiography, she recounts the struggles they faced as an interracial couple in the 50s and 60s. In an 1980 interview with Ebony Magazine, Ms. Horne spoke about marrying Heyton to gain mainstream attention and learning to love him later. While I don’t condone that kind of thing, she had to get in where she fit in. It was hard out there for a black actress so she gets a pass.
RELATED POSTS:
Top Ten DVD’s Worth Fighting Over
Kerry Washington and Wu-Tang’s Rza Round Out Cast of “Django Unchained”
Top 5 Women That Made History And Changed The Entertainment Industry
