Dove has teamed up with a black activist accused of ruining a white student’s life over a “misheard” comment, and the activist is promoting “fat liberation” in a strange and controversial new campaign.
The beauty brand has partnered with Zyahna Bryant, a community organizer and student activist who studies at the University of virginia in Charlottesville.
Bryant, 22, claimed he heard a white student named Morgan Bettinger make threats Black Lives Matter protesters in Charlottesville in July 2020 after using the phrase “speed bumps” while describing the protest he saw.
But Bryant later admitted he may have “heard wrong,” after watching and gleefully joining in as Bettinger was canceled and his life destroyed.
Bettinger she was subjected to a torrent of abuse and a campaign to remove her from the UVA. Staff and students united against her and damaged her future prospects.
Despite the controversy, Dove has chosen Bryant as one of its “paid partners” — a loose advertising and promotional tie, similar to what Bud Light offered the trans activist. Dylan Mulvaney.
Bryant posted last week Instagram a video declaring that she was a Dove ambassador and talking about “fat liberation,” a campaign to end the stigma of being overweight.
Zyahna Bryant, a community organizer and student activist studying at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, is now a Dove ambassador.
“#DovePartner Fat release is something we should all be talking about!” Bryant wrote.
“That’s why I’m partnering with Dove, to support the work of @naafaofficial, @flareforjustice in the campaign for size freedom.
“Tell us what Fat Liberation means to you by using the hashtag #sizefreedom and tagging @dove to share your story.”
In an accompanying clip, Bryant, who is proudly plus-size, said: “My belief is that we should center the voices and experiences of the most marginalized people and communities at all times.
So when I think about what fat liberation looks like to me, I think about centering the voices of those who live in it and who maneuver through spaces and institutions in a fat body.’
Bryant’s 27,000 Instagram followers responded with an outpouring of support, praising her for promoting “fat liberation” and declaring that the campaign was long overdue.
But she was roundly condemned on social media after news of her role in Bettinger’s cancellation was first shared by reason magazine – with Dove now potentially in the midst of a backlash over its close association with Bryant.
The soap brand has long been associated with uplifting causes that boost body positivity. Parent company Unilever’s other megabrands include Ben & Jerry’s, Domestos, Vaseline and Hellman’s.
Earlier this year, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s tie-in with Bud Light to celebrate one year of life as a woman led to furious backlash and a seemingly permanent drop in the beer brand’s sales.
In recent years, Bryant has made a name for himself as a BLM activist.
Her website says she started campaigning as a child.
“At age 12, he organized his first demonstration, a rally for Justice for Trayvon Martin and other unarmed black lives lost to police violence,” the website states.
Bryant, 22, claimed that in July 2020, she heard fellow University of Virginia student Morgan Bettinger threaten protesters by saying they would “make good speed bumps.”
Despite the controversy, Dove has chosen Bryant as one of its “paid partners” — a loose advertising and promotional tie, similar to what Bud Light offered trans activist Dylan Mulvaney.
He organized the Black Student Union at his high school and joined the Charlottesville Youth Council.
In the spring of 2016, he began petitioning the city of Charlottesville to remove statues of Confederate leaders from the city, which the city eventually did.
Conservatives were furious, and in August 2017 a Unite The Right rally was held in Charlottesville, with neo-Nazis carrying tiki torches marching through the streets chanting, “Jews will not replace us.”
A counter-protester, Heather Heyer, 32, was deliberately run over and killed by white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr – he was sentenced to life in prison for her murder.
Donald Trump infamously declared that there were “good people on both sides” at the rally.
In July 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, Bettinger mistakenly drove onto a street where protesters had gathered.
As he tried to flee, his car was surrounded.
Bettinger appears in her car during the protest in July 2020. She insists she told a truck driver blocking the road that she was glad he was there to avoid a repeat of the 2017 Unite the Right rally, when a white supremacist beat and killed anti-racism protester Heather Heyer. But Bryant claimed Bettinger had suggested he wanted to hurt George Floyd protesters
The video evidence does not show the moment Bettinger made the comment, but it does show the aftermath of protesters hitting her car, yelling obscenities at her and mocking her for crying as she called 911. his mother and the police.
Almost immediately after the incident (pictured), Bryant took to Twitter to discuss the encounter, which garnered thousands of retweets in a short period of time.
Bettinger was photographed on her phone while in her car in July 2020 as Black Lives Matter protesters accosted her from outside.
Bettinger said she told a truck driver, who was in front of her and blocking the way, that, “It’s a good thing you’re here, because otherwise these people would have been speeding.”
Bryant tweeted that Bettinger had said the protesters would have “made good speed bumps,” a particularly chilling reference after Heyer’s murder.
Bettinger quickly identified himself, with the revelation that he was pro-police – and had a late father who had worked as a police officer – further infuriating his critics.
Bryant and others called for severe punishment or expulsion from UVA.
Bryant then embarked on an email campaign to oust Bettinger, tweeting, “EMAIL these UVA deans now to demand that Morgan face the consequences of his actions and that UVA stop graduate the racists.”
Bettinger was later rejected from college and even walked around her hometown, fearing for her safety.
UVA’s Judiciary Committee later found Bettinger guilty of making a legitimate threat, despite being unable to prove Bryant’s claim about his intentions.
His ‘jurors’ told him that even saying the words in a harmless way during the anti-racism protests of the summer of 2020 deserved punishment.
Bryant also filed a complaint with the school’s Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR), where the student activist claimed Bettinger had made the statement five times and racially discriminated against Bryant .
The EOCR found that three of the five allegations could not be substantiated, with Bryant herself later admitting that she may have misheard the “speed bumps” claim.
Sadly, the report, which was filed because of Bryant’s complaint, found that Bryant likely didn’t hear Bettinger make the comment firsthand.
No eyewitness could corroborate Bryant’s version of events.
“Based on Bryant’s immediate, surprised tone after the second third’s response, EOCR finds it more likely than not that it was at that time that Bryant first learned that [Bettinger] made a statement about protesters speeding,” the report, obtained by Reason, stated.
The Judiciary Committee’s ruling is still on her permanent record, ruining the now law school graduate’s chances.
Bettinger is considering filing a lawsuit.
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