“I never disrespected Trinidad.”
So said Jamaican dancehall icon Beenie Man (Moses Davis) as he apologised for his controversial comments about one of Trinidad’s beloved street foods—doubles.
Almost a week after appearing on the Drink Champs podcast with hosts N.O.R.E. (Victor James Santiago Jr) and DJ EFN (Eric Fernando Narciandi), where he remarked, “I don’t eat doubles because dogs don’t eat doubles,” Davis has attempted to clarify his statement.
Yesterday, following the backlash on social media, with many Trinis expressing outrage over what they saw as a blatant insult to their national culinary pride, Davis issued an apology.
“For all the people saying I disrespected Trinidad, I never disrespected Trinidad. I tried to eat the doubles, but when me go so, boom, and throw the thing for the dog, the dog dem nah eat it. It wasn’t meant as a disrespect to Trinidad at all, whatsoever,” Davis said.
He added, “I am deeply sorry to all Trinbagonians around the world who love doubles. When I said it, it was a joke. I wasn’t disrespecting Trinidad. I would never do that. Every Carnival I am in Trinidad. Bravo (Dwayne Bravo) is one of my best friends in the world.”
Commenting on Davis’ apology, many social media users said it was not a good one.
“This just made everything worse,” one social media user said.
Simon Frank said, “He is continuing to say the same thing he got into hot water for, that is not an apology.”
Another poster stated, “You can do better than that. You are one of the best lyrical reggae artiste but yet you can’t even put the right words together to apologise properly? You should have just stayed quiet.”
Jamaicans speak out
Since Davis’s controversial statements, several Jamaican artistes, bloggers and social media personalities have come to the defence of Trinis and their beloved delicacy.
Fellow dancehall artiste Mr Vegas issued an apology to the people of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of Davis, acknowledging any offence caused by Davis’ remarks.
“On behalf of the dancehall community, I would like to apologise to the people of Trinidad and Tobago for anything our ‘speeky spooky’ brother Beenie Man may have said that offended your culture.
“Personally, I did not know what ‘doubles’ is, but now I know,” Mr Vegas said in a post on his Facebook page.
“I can assure you that the next time I come to your beautiful country, I will be eating singles, doubles, and triples with a cold glass of Mauby. One love Trini massive,” Mr Vegas added.
