Jeffrey Wright Says Being Black Is a ‘Political Term,’ Talks Racist Abuse Against Kylian Mbappé: ‘They Think They Can Diminish How Powerful He Is With Their Stupidity’

Jeffrey Wright opened up about the racist abuse of football star Kylian Mbappé.

After Paraguay’s loss to France at the World Cup, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla attacked him on social media, describing him as, among other things, “a brute who had not learned to write.”

“Look at this bullshit. What is she talking about?! I mean, here’s this guy who’s one of the greatest football players in the world. It’s obvious to anyone who’s not a fucking idiot just by watching the man on the field, how significant he is as a player, how significant his contributions are to this game that the world loves. And he’s a human being as well,” he said during a roundtable interview at Karlovy Vary.

“And yet you have to hear this nonsense from this lazy-minded, self-aggrandizing, self-pleasuring people who are trying to derive some sense of self, some degree of power by thinking that they can be disparaging of him. They think they can somehow diminish how powerful he is on the field with their stupidity. It’s just remarkable.”

He added: “But the thing is, France won 2-0 yesterday, and this is the key. If who you are is powerful, there’s nothing they can do to stop you.”