Source: Santiago Felipe / Getty
“The Tamron Hall Show” is seemingly being called out yet again. This time, it’s by Dr. Ian Smith. In an interview with “The Karen Hunter Show,” Smith accused a Black-led daytime television show of refusing to book Black experts unless they’re trending for something negative in nature.
“There are a lot of people who look like me, who are equally educated, equally articulate, who are not getting a platform on major shows. And, you know, they won’t bring on African-American or Latinx people as experts to talk about things like education or sociology or medicine or law. They will only bring us on when we’re an entertainer or an athlete or we do something salacious. There is a talk show with an African-American host and an African-American executive producer that has said to publicists ‘do not pitch us your Black clients we are not a Black show, pitch us your white clients, we don’t want to be looked at as a Black show,’ he said. “They will bring on Black experts when they do something salacious or they’re in the headlines for doing something bad. Then they’ll bring Black people on to talk about that.”
Smith added that he found it necessary to call the show out because we would definitely be doing so if the hosts were white.
“I’m putting this show on blast because when white shows and hosts don’t let us on we criticize them, but the same criticism has to be held when a show is helmed and hosted by Black people that keep us off the airwaves and it’s just not right,” said Smith
While he did not name Hall specifically, Hunter assumed that he was referencing the veteran television journalist because, well, there are but so many Black hosts in the daytime TV space right now.
“Is it a she? Was she formerly on cable, and then moved to NBC and then moved on to her own show with her name on it?” asked Hunter before Smith finally smiled and nodded.
“Tamron Hall you heard it,” said Hunter.
Hall has had an array of Black experts on her show to discuss issues ranging from health inequities, to travel and entrepreneurship.
Madame Noire has reached out to the Tamron Hall Show for comment. We will update this post if we receive a response.
