I didn't know Betty Boop was Black. * true story * #bettyboop #africanamerican #americanhistory

[ZukoLavender]

I’ve known this for a while but this was something that needed to be said! Thank you for addressing this for those who didn’t know!

[blazejuanico]

I learned that back when I was 15. As a young artist, I was asked to draw Betty because pinups was a favorite of mine. While researching photos I found that out. My friends kept calling me a liar until I printed out the info. Talk about different times to now, hardly any one checks the research themselves which is sad.

Shout out to all my English teachers for teaching me to follow through with research.

[victoriaparker]

Miss Esther along side Miss Josephine are both staples for a lot of fashion icons/models.

[txwtw]

The first and last photo of Esther aren’t Esther Jones, those are pictures of a Betty Boop cosplayer.

[averykitsch]

The fact that she thought she got away with biting thinking nobody would know 😂

[crescent.t]

The woman you showed as Ester is actually a cosplayer

[mg]

That is NOT cultural appropriation, throwing that term around when it's not relevant diminishes it. Yes she stole her act, but that's the work of one person not a cultural act.

[-chloe-]

THAT PHOTO IS NOT OF ESTHER JONES. PLS DO YOUR RESEARCH. that is a ukranian model cosplaying betty boop in a photo shoot in 2008. these images have been spread uncritically around the internet as supposed photos of esther but that’s not the case. it’s pretty obvious that it’s a modern photo and model if you know about fashion history. esther was a real person and photos of her exist but 80% of the supposed photos her being circulated online are of this white model and it’s a real shame.

[tula]

September 2021, PBS retracted a story that had been on its website for six years asserting that Baby Esther (Esther Lee Jones), a young African American performer, was the unsung and uncredited inspiration behind the cartoon character Betty Boop. The retraction, entitled Betty Oops, explains how and why PBS had not properly verified their sources and acknowledges that this led to the story becoming “a viral source” of misinformation, including a widely circulated photo of a woman misidentified as Baby Esther. Always do your research.

[morriganlobel]

Can we please stop using those images of "baby esther" like the one used in this video!? That isn't the actual women that is just a costume of Betty boop!!! Please show the actual woman! It feels wrong to try and educate people about her and her story tied to Betty without actually showing her, but instead some other woman 😐

[Chocolatemilkpro]

Saying she was black, and saying she was INSPIRED by a black artist are two completely different sentences.

[JoeMama-twgu]

neither of those are a picture of esther jones, at the time esther jones was still a child and she actually stopped preforming when she was a teenager. and she never dressed like betty boop. her singing was an inspiration for the character but the look of the character was inspired by helen kane

[ametbeal]

Know what "cultural appropriation" means first

[ZimVader-]

Betty Boop was actually a dog first. This is why her boyfriend is Bimbo the dog. The first time she ever appears is in a Bimbo cartoon, and she has floppy ears and a black nose like a dog. Fletcher later on decided to make her into a human when she got popular.

[normabracey]

I'm a black woman. I'm 67 yrs old and this is the first time I've heard of this. Though I've never been a betty boop fan, I know someone who is nothing but Betty boop.! Thank you for the information.

[kimrey]

Honestly what does it matter what she was. Why y'all always with this cultural racism trash. Can't we just love these fictional characters for who they are as the character not for their race smh and just so you know I'm not black nor am I white so don't call me racist 😂😂😂 cause that's an overstatement

[davidwesley]

Those are Not photos of Esther Jones , The Real Esther Jones was a Young Teenager when Betty Boop became Popular.

[Ldyether]

It's not cultural appropriations love. It might be someone trying to steal a style, but it's not stealing a cultural anything.

[darlababydoll]

The woman who's voice was inspired by her was black (esther jones). Esther jones had nothing to do with bettys look. Her voice was inspired and helen kane liked to use the same baby voice. She didnt give esther voice credit thus bringing helen kanes trial where bonnie poe, majorie kane, and mae questal testiefied against her. Now however helen kane had bettys look. Bonnie poe and mae questal definitely had bettys look and voice along with marjorie kane. As for the picture of esther jones; that picture isn't actually her apparently nobody knows who the beautiful black woman is in the photo of her sitting with her fingers to her chin smiling.

[IrieRogue]

Oh, what's this I see? Someone who clearly does not understand the transitive property or abstract though and decided to fabricate outrage? Gotcha