Mary J. Blige Reveals She Lost Friends Over Controversial 2012 Burger King Commercial: 'Not F---ing Funny'

Sara BelcherWed, April 22, 2026 at 8:34 PM UTC

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Mary J. Blige in 2026; and the singer in the infamous Burger King commercialCredit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Burger King -

Mary J. Blige says the controversial Burger King ad she appeared in deeply affected her and is still not a laughing matter

The singer claimed the ad was released unfinished and not what she agreed to film

Blige says the backlash taught her hard lessons about trust and revealed who her true friends were.

Mary J. Blige has not forgotten about the drama over a controversial Burger King commercial.

Speaking with online creator Scott Evans, the Queen of R&B discussed the infamous ad, which saw Blige 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."

The clip quickly drew backlash, with many viewers criticizing the commercial for perpetuating racist stereotypes. At the time, Blige said in a statement that the clip was not what she had expected to be released. "I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence," she said, per the Wall Street Journal. "Unfortunately, that's not what was happening in that clip, so 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 to go out."

Mary J. Blige in New York City on Feb. 4, 2026Credit: John Nacion/Variety/Getty

Burger King commented on the backlash the fast food brand and Blige received, claiming the commercial viewers saw was "released prematurely before all of the licensing and final approvals were obtained."

"We would like to apologize to Mary J. and all of her fans for airing an ad that was not final," the burger company said in a statement. "We know how important Mary J. is to her fans, and we are currently in the process of finalizing the commercial. We hope to have the final ad on the air soon." The commercial was then pulled from the air.

Though it's been 14 years since the commercial drew online backlash, Blige was frank in her response when asked by Evans if she was "in a place where you can yet laugh" about it. "No. I'm not. I would never laugh at that, because my true, honest fans did not think that s‑‑‑ was funny," she said. "The whole way that s‑‑‑ went down was wrong. The way they shot it was wrong. It was set up to make exactly what happened in the press happen like that."

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At the time, Blige was represented by her then-husband, Kendu Isaacs. Four years later, in 2016, she filed for divorce after 12 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

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

Part of those lessons, she said, was learning who in her circles to trust. She said that as a result of the fallout she received from the commercial, people in her life started "treating me like I was a disease."

"It doesn't feel good cuz I was getting clobbered for no f---ing reason. But it did show me something. One minute people are with you, and one minute they are not," she told Evans. "It showed me just how fickle the game is. And it showed me exactly who my friends were. A lot of my so-called friends are not around anymore."

"So I said, you know, I know how to do this. Thank you, Lord, for the lesson. Thank you for getting me through it. Now I know how people get down," she continued. "And that was the blessing in the whole thing. just learning how f---ed up and fickle people are. And one day when you hot the minute some s--- happens that you can't even explain, they gone."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”