(WATCH) Da Brat Apologizes For ‘Jiminy Cricket’ Joke About Black Sperm Donor: ‘I Meant No Harm Whatsoever’

Da Brat and her wife Jesseca Harris-Dupart recently appeared as guests on the ‘Tamron Hall Show.’

During the interview, Da Brat explained her previous comment about the looks of a prospective Black sperm donor.

“I crack jokes about almost everybody that I saw; that one just happened to make it in the show. I wasn’t trying to be mean or say anything negative  about Black people — we were looking for a Black donor. We’re Black — we wanted a Black donor…”

Additionally, the rapper explained that her joke was “misconstrued” and “taken way out of context.”

The rapper continued by explaining that she didn’t think her joke would have “bothered anybody.”

“I didn’t think it would have bothered anybody, or else I would have taken it out. I had no idea people were going to be so offended…”

Da Brat continued by firmly explaining that she “meant no harm” with her comment.

“I meant no harm whatsoever. We wanted a Black donor… People who know me know that I didn’t mean any harm…”

Then she concluded the matter with an apology.

“So if I offended anybody, I do apologize, but it was a joke between me and my wife and the doctor — we joke like that, we play around. It wasn’t meant to be offensive in any way.”

As The Shade Room previously reported, Jesseca Harris-Dupart took to Instagram last week to defend her wife amid the backlash for her joke.

In a video post, Harris-Dupart explained that she and her wife did not reject the Black sperm donor because of his looks; they instead had to use another sperm donor, who is non-Black, due to the results of genetic testing.

“So, as a mother of 3 beautiful black kids, and even a black grand baby I want to CLARIFY SHIT to avoid this STORYLINE from continuing that we choose our donor off of looks and that we didn’t want a black donor …… here’s some things you should know 1) WE HAD NO IDEA GOING INTO THIS THAT our chances of a black donor would be slim to none 2) that I was a carrier of so many disorders 3) that our window was SOOOO slim and such high risk cus of age and more 4) with my genetic testing I’m the carrier of 4 disorders, that reduced our chances of a black donor down to 1 person and that 1 person had very limited info / portfolio to judge on ….. including BACKGROUND”

It’s important to note that although Harris-Dupart did defend Da Brat, she admitted that her wife’s joke was “distasteful.”

“the headlines are misleading but also my wife made a distasteful joke and now it’s attached to the headline and making it seem like we choose strictly off of looks and we didn’t at all attempt to find a black donor when in fact not only did we try but we also waited to see if more would pop up over time – but had to stay within the window that we had to choose…”

Harris-Dupart concluded her message by explaining that, ultimately, not using a Black sperm donor was a “hard decision.”

However, she hopes that the misunderstanding around her wife’s comment can bring awareness to the lack of Black sperm donors and increase donations.

“our baby created with a HEALTHY baby first mindset once we learned all the things , was a hard decision and of course we didn’t want to add any other stigmas or anything to our child but we had SEVERELY limited options . Thanks to all the people supporting us on our journey and I truely hope this brings Awareness to more black men to donate.”

Da Brat reportedly shared the “Jimmy Cricket” comments in a now-deleted interview with The Root, as reported by The Shade Room.

In the interview, the couple explained that their IVF search began with thousands of prospective sperm donors. However, their options were severely narrowed after genetic testing was conducted, and they were ultimately left with only one Black candidate.

“And that [dude] looked like Jiminy Cricket. I was like, ‘I’m sorry but that wasn’t gonna be my choice.'”

The rapper revealed they had to use a non-Black donor while commenting on that individual’s appearance.

“Because we didn’t have a lot to choose from, he definitely wasn’t Black. But I think we did a great job with picking. He’s handsome, he’s tall and I think he’s going to look beautiful with my wife’s egg.”

Check out a clip of the couple’s journey below!