Priscilla Presley is pushing back against the narrative that her late ex-husband and music legend Elvis Presley was racist. Due to the Baz Luhrman biopic starring Austin Butler as The King, there’s been renewed attention around Elvis’ allegedly racist background. While the film shows the iconic crooner being moved by the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, it does touch on the belief that Elvis carried prejudices, which Priscilla did not appreciate.
“Per the movie, [for] a long time it was stated that Elvis was a racist,” Priscilla said in a new interview with Piers Morgan. “He was not a racist. He had never been a racist. He had friends, Black friends, friends from all over. He loved their music, he loved their style. He loved being around Black musicians.”
Priscilla took things further by calling out the need to “expose” everyone. Via IndieWire:
“He loved, loved being around Blacks. He loved being around anyone, actually,” Priscilla continued. “He was not prejudiced in any way. He was not racist in any way. It’s like we’re looking for something from everyone so we can somehow expose them in some way. It’s frightening right now.”
Sensing an opening, Morgan asked Priscilla what Elvis would think of today’s “cancel culture,” and the British broadcaster certainly got the quote he was fishing for.
“Elvis would probably go to the president, like he did with Nixon,” Priscilla said. “Put his foot down and say, ‘What is going on?’ I don’t know what happened to freedom. I don’t know if there is freedom here anymore. I think we’re in a very dangerous time.”
(Via IndieWire)
