Mary J. Blige slams controversial 2012 Burger King commercial: 'It's not f---ing funny'

Joey NolfiMon, April 20, 2026 at 2:59 PM UTC

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Mary J. Blige; Blige's 2012 Burger King commercialCredit: Scott Evans; Burger KingKey Points -

Mary J. Blige has opened up about the painful rollout of her controversial 2012 Burger King commercial.

"It's not f---ing funny," Blige said in a new interview, after the initial ad was scaled back over accusations of perpetuating racist stereotypes.

Blige said the incident led her to realize how "f---ed up and fickle people are" in the entertainment industry.

Grammy-winning recording artist and Oscar-nominated actress Mary J. Blige has opened up about the backlash she endured for appearing in a 2012 Burger King commercial that critics at the time said perpetuated racist stereotypes.

In a new interview with media personality Scott Evans (below), the 55-year-old singer looked back on the fallout from the ad, which saw her sing about "crispy chicken, fresh lettuce, three cheeses, ranch dressing wrapped up in a tasty flour tortilla" over the beat of her 2011 song "Don't Mind."

"Are you in a place where you can yet laugh about that Burger King commercial?" Evans asked Blige in the interview, as the clip has spawned memes in the years since its rollout was scaled back amid the backlash.

Mary J. Blige at 2026 Vanity Fair Oscars PartyCredit: Patrick McMullan/Getty

"No. I'm not. I would never laugh at that, because my true, honest fans did not think that s--- was funny. The whole way that s--- went down was wrong," Blige replied. "The way they shot it was wrong. It was set up to make exactly what happened in the press happen like that."

She continued, "It's still not a laughing matter to me, because I was deeply, deeply affected. Now, I learned a lot from it."

Blige reiterated that "it's not f---ing funny," but still urged "motherf---ers" to laugh at it if they want.

"The bottom line is, my fans were confused. The real, true fans," she stressed. "I didn't really know what was going on. I had bad representation, bad management, bad everything. Everybody dropped the ball, and I'm holding everything. That was a learning curve, but still not funny." (Blige did not clarify who represented her at the time. Entertainment Weekly has reached out to her team for clarification.)

She compared the criticism she received at the time to "getting clobbered for no f---ing reason," and that frayed relationships over the commercial showed her "just how fickle the game is" in the entertainment industry.

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"A lot of my so-called friends are not around anymore. I was like a disease to people. Nobody wanted to be affiliated," she said. "This is where I learned I go where I'm celebrated at. They were treating me like I was a disease or something." She finished her thought by telling Evans that she realized how "f---ed up and fickle people are" as she processed the moment.

EW has reached out to representatives for Burger King and Blige for additional comment.

The ad was met with criticism shortly after a preview was uploaded to (and later deleted from) the Burger King YouTube account in 2012, with Blige releasing a subsequent statement to TMZ.

“I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence. Unfortunately, that's not what was happening in that clip," she alleged. "I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw go out."

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In a statement to the outlet at the time, Burger King confirmed that the ad was released prematurely, "before all of the licensing and final approvals were obtained" for usage of Blige's song. "We would like to apologize to Mary J. and all of her fans for airing an ad that was not final," the chain continued.

Watch Blige discuss her 2012 Burger King commercial in the interview with Evans above.

on Entertainment Weekly

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