Credit: Instagram
Annemarie Wiley accused Instagram’s Drunk Drawn of racism and cyberbullying after coming across a caricature image he drew of her that she felt resembled a gorilla.
In an Instagram post that has since been deleted, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member, 40, targeted the artist’s picture, slamming the image as “disgusting and completely unacceptable,” prompting fans to lash out at her, stating that she was “reaching” with her claims of racism and channeling “false victimhood.”
“RACISM and cyber bullying … In case anyone wants to understand the level that I’ve been dealing with… here you go,” Annemarie wrote in the caption of her Instagram post, which featured Drunk Drawn’s drawing. “I am a black woman … I am a former collegiate athlete … I wake up at 4:30am every day to workout, and I am proud of the muscles and body that I have earned … I am proud to show all young girls that you don’t need to be a size zero to love your body and feel worthy … That you can be strong, athletic, and proud of yourself … I am proud to be a role model for girls and women that don’t fit the ‘model mold’ … I am 5’9, 150 lbs, a size 6, and I share that information proudly and openly.”
According to Annemarie, she felt that Drunk Drawn had depicted her as an animal.
“Drawing a black woman as a gorilla is disgusting and completely unacceptable! Black women are strong and beautiful. Throughout history black women have been villainized as combative, aggressive, angry, dangerous, and ‘animalistic’ at every opportunity!” she explained. “This is nothing compared to microagressions and name calling…This is an entirely different level of RACISM and HATRED!”
Annemarie went on to say that she is “a kind hearted human with feelings, children, and a REAL life” who “[takes] care of people for a living” before slamming what she believed was racism once again.
“Enough of the racism and enough of the cyber bullying,” she stated. “Shame on you [Drunk Drawn].”
Following the sharing of Annemarie’s post, which she seemed to have taken down sometime on Monday morning, many of her fans and followers expressed that they felt her allegations against Drunk Drawn were unwarranted.
“The person drew an exaggerated version of your muscles? Not sure why this is racist,” one person stated.
“Reaching,” agreed another. “I don’t see gorilla. He draws caricatures of all the housewives. Girl bye.”
“Drunk Drawn gives everybody exaggerated proportions. When they draw Angie K she has one eye. Get a sense of humor. You’re intolerable,” added a third.
Others believed Annemarie was victimizing herself in an effort to combat the backlash she’s received in recent weeks due to her behavior on RHOBH.
“As a black woman, I sincerely hate when a black woman cheapens a call-out on racism by being an overly dramatic brat. Garcelle’s hands were drawn. Was that racist too? Or just because you didn’t like it?” one person asked. “Newsflash: read the room (and your comments) … many of us aren’t feeling you ma’am. And this screams false victimhood in attempt to garner sympathy because you are NOT passing the vibe check on the show. Muscles be damned.”
Another Instagram user pointed out that Drunk Drawn had apologized for his drawing as they shot down Annemarie’s racism claims.
“You really should research the artist, who by the way apologized. Exaggerated caricature muscles are the style,” they noted. “Is it rude? Maybe. Racist? No. That’s your perception of it Annemarie. You ALWAYS make issue where there is none. I honestly feel for anyone in your regular circle of life; it must be exhausting to be around you.”
Amid the backlash, Drunk Drawn took to his Instagram account with a message, apologizing for the triggering image of Annemarie.
“I made a mistake,” he admitted. “If you follow me you know I exaggerate the human form and behavior in pop culture. I want to acknowledge the recent post I made of Annemarie Wiley. I’ve seen both Annemarie’s response and several followers mention the racism this triggers and I should have known better. I want to make it clear that was not my intention. Please forgive me and know that I will carry this lesson with me and do better going forward.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.