Serena Williams’ near-death experience following the birth of her first daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, in 2017 has resurfaced amid outrage over a Twitter post blaming black moms for their very own deaths during childbirth.

Studies have shown that the maternal mortality rate for black women is twice that of white women. In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that for each 100,000 live births, there have been 70 maternal deaths for black women.

On September 18, Joel Berry, editor-in-chief of the satirical website The Babylon Bee, sparked outrage amongst users when he posted a post that has since been deleted: “My wife is a maternity nurse and I can tell you with absolute certainty that these women have a higher mortality rate because they refuse to use prenatal care, they take more medications, they refuse to eat a proper diet, and they generally don’t take as much care of themselves.”

Outraged advocates for black women were quick to indicate that the tennis player’s self-advocacy saved her life. After an emergency C-section, Williams developed life-threatening complications, including blood clots in her lungs and legs. She also experienced a severe cough that caused the C-section wound to rupture.

The sports icon opened up in regards to the terrifying experience in a 2018 interview with “Today.” She said her persistent requests for a CT scan led doctors to find the blockages. “I can’t believe how much went wrong on the way to meet her. … I almost died,” Williams said.

She also opened up about her harrowing birthing story within the HBO documentary Being Serena, which was released the identical 12 months. The 23-time Grand Slam winner also told her medical team that she was at increased risk for potentially fatal blood clots after suffering a embolism in 2011.

There has been a backlash against the MAGA supporter online, with many pointing to Williams’ history to refute his claims. “The greatest athlete of all time IS BEING IGNORED ON THE SURGEON’S TABLE. Serena Williams almost fucking died in childbirth. I can’t believe it. Unlimited GALA,” one wrote tweet.

Second user common“Serena Williams almost died because she didn’t take her prenatal meds and took drugs??? Maybe… his wife could base her care on that assumption. Studies do show that drug use is highest among the most privileged, but carry on.”

Berry is “pro-life” and swears he’s not a racist. And I wouldn’t want his wife to take care of any black woman’s pregnancy, given those thoughts. https://t.co/VQ3QySxI7K

— @ijbailey (@ijbailey) September 20, 2024

Third tweet To read“It all makes sense. I mean, Serena Williams had serious complications during childbirth, and who eats worse than the world’s number 1 tennis player??” Another user called Berry’s wife’s claims “complete racist bullshit,” as one other person hoped she could be sued for violating her Hippocratic oath.

Two years later, in 2019, Williams helped Mahmee, a tech company hoping to rework prenatal and postnatal take care of moms and kids, raise $3 million.

A month before the couple’s second daughter, Adira, is due in 2023, Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian said People “They were obviously taking every precaution and doing everything they could to make sure everything went smoothly for Serena,” though he didn’t provide details on the measures being taken to make sure history didn’t repeat itself.

Another viral lie. Amber Nicole Thurman got sepsis after taking an abortion pill that did not remove all of the contents of her uterus. She didn’t get timely care from her abortion provider and died. Georgia law didn’t prevent her from getting the care she needed. Georgia law doesn’t… photo:twitter.com/nhJvgw1nNh

— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) September 18, 2024

Additionally, on September 18, Berry shared the tragic story of Amber Nicole Thurman, a Georgia mother who died in August 2022 from complications caused by a delay in receiving medical care attributable to that state’s anti-abortion laws.

Thurman, who was six weeks pregnant, went to a North Carolina clinic where she was given abortion pills. A number of days after the abortion was induced, she developed an infection attributable to fetal tissue remaining within the uterus.

The mother of one experienced significant blood loss and loss of consciousness, prompting her to hunt medical attention at Piedmont Henry Hospital. She required dilation and curettage, a procedure to empty the uterus of its contents, but was denied the care she needed for 20 hours.

This Young Georgia Mom Was Killed By An Abortionist After She Got Stuck In Traffic On Her Way To An Abortion Clinic, And The Clinic Refused To Book Her A Surgery Slot. Instead, They Sent Her Home With The Abortion Pills Mifepristone And Misoprostol, Which Caused Her Septicemia… https://t.co/H8fvm2wmq7

— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) September 18, 2024

While within the hospital, her organs failed before staff intervened. Her death was ruled “preventable,” in line with ProPublica. Georgia law prohibits doctors from terminating a pregnancy after six weeks, the time when the fetus has a detectable heartbeat.

Berry insists the black mother was “killed by the abortionist” who provided her with the pills, not because she was denied the life-saving procedure after she became unwell.

Rapper Chingy has faced criticism for his attendance at a Republican Party-sponsored human rights summit attended by the country’s largest and oldest organization representing LGBT conservatives and their heterosexual allies.

His name appeared on a “Red White & Rock” flyer produced by the sponsoring organization, alongside the likes of Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. as headliners for the evening.

When the Jasmine brand published After the flyer was released, a lot of his fans shared their thoughts on his booking.

🔥🎸READY TO ROCK? 🇺🇸🔥

Log Cabin heads to Music City on Sunday, September twenty ninth!

TICKETS: https://t.co/LNV2xPWZdp photo: twitter.com/77LzeE96Xa

— Log Cabin Republicans (@LogCabinGOP) September 20, 2024

Despite his try to deflect attention from his political affiliations, many social media users compared him to Chrisette Michele, who faced similar criticism for her performance at Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“They better do to him what they did to Chrisette Michele,” one comment read, while one other agreed and said, “Drag him down like you did to Chrisette Michele!” @tyrese Where are you? Because you had quite a lot of warmth for Chrisette.”

Chingy’s planned appearance on the event has reignited the discussion about artists supporting controversial causes for profit.

“Let Chingy do what he has to do for his pork chop and pay his electric bill in peace. Because his performance won’t affect my vote one bit,” one commenter said bluntly.

Another wrote: “Not all money is good money, Chingy. It’s the difference between chasing a dollar and creating a brand.”

A 3rd comment read: “At least he said it was just about the money, most people wouldn’t even admit that.”

Chingy was so overwhelmed by people’s criticism for participating within the controversial event, Log cabin event during which he addressed his fans and critics with a special statement.

The ‘Right Thurr’ star wrote: “I said it once. MY JOB IS TO PERFORM AND I GET PAID TO PERFORM, NOT FOR POLITICS. NOW FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO WITH YOUR TIME.”

He added: “HEY, MAYOR, IT’S SEPTEMBER 14TH^TH CHINGY DAY IN ST LOUIS! WHY IS THIS NOT ON THE VASSAL BLOGS?”

Someone told him“Just tell us you’re in a bad mood,” in line with Baller Alert, to which he replied, “You can’t be in a bad mood when you just bought a $500,000 house.”

“These people don’t hate me because they love my music. The music is not racist and that’s how I play it. All this crap you guys create doesn’t bother me at all,” he continued.

He added: “I’m a performer, whether those people are political or gay or whatever — everybody loves music. I have classic records that everybody loves, and I’ll perform them for them. So I hope that helps you understand that my job as an artist is to perform and create timeless music. And that’s what I did.”

Chingy continued to attempt to make his case on social media. One Instagrammer asked the rapper directly, “What the hell, you a Trump supporter now?” to which he replied, “No, correction, I’m a Chingy supporter. My job is to perform, not to be political.”

This would not be the primary time Chingy’s support for Donald Trump has been met with resistance.

In 2016, the rapper posted a tweet supporting Trump.

“Politics vs. society. People need to understand that politics is a business, just like the job you do. I’m voting for @realDonaldTrump,” he wrote in January 2016. After posting the tweet, the rapper was inundated with backlash, withdrawing his support and admitting he was not fully informed.

“Everything I wrote was completely taken out of content… but I’m still on top. lmao #LiveofACeleb #TwitterIsTheDevil #NoEndorsement,” he said he tweeted later that very same day.

He later said that in line with Bulletin board“I thought it was good stuff. Obviously, we want to keep terrorism out of the country. I didn’t know about some of the negative things he had to say about some of the racing here and the hip-hop community. I didn’t know about a lot of the negative stuff, I was just commenting on reading the article and reading some of the good things he said, so that’s where my comments came from.”

The Red White & Rock event that has sparked a lot discussion is a fundraiser for the Republican Party and can happen on September 29 from 3 to 7 p.m. in Nashville.

The St. Louis native has not formally endorsed any candidate on this round and doesn’t appear to have any political content on his energetic Instagram account. However, after receiving mounting backlash, he decided to tug out of the event.

“YOU KNOW WHAT, BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS MESS. I REFUSED TO PERFORM AND NO, I AM NOT A SUPPORTER OF TRUMP OR ANYONE ELSE BUT CHINGY. YES YOU DO,” Chingy said, in line with an Instagram screenshot captured by TeaWith Tia.