UPDATED 1/21/18 4:36 p.m. ET: On Sunday afternoon, Ciara published an Instagram note that appears to address the reactions to her offending tweet. In the brief statement, Ciara recalled being at her "lowest moment" when she was a single mother before having a religious moment. "Thats when I realized married or not married... I needed to love myself." She also ends the post with the hashtag, #LevelUp. See the note below.
Original story is below.
By all accounts, Ciara is enjoying a happy marriage to Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. The pair snap pictures, take viral videos, and do the whole blended family thing. Saturday, in what was presumably an attempt to share the secret of her marital bliss, Ciara tweeted a sermon from John W. Gray III. The word was not received well.
“Here’s what the scripture says,” Gray preached in the clip. “‘He that finds a wife finds a good thing.’ It didn’t say, ‘He that finds a girl that he’s attracted to, who he then begins to date, who he then calls his girlfriend, who he then buys a ring, proposes to and makes her his fiancée, who he then marries later who becomes his wife. You’re not a wife when I marry you, you’re a wife when I find you.”
Ciara quickly began trending on Twitter, as those both in support and vehemently opposed to her message flooded her mentions. Some took issue with Gray seemingly shaming women not in heteronormative, cisgendered marriages. Others pointed out that Gray’s example mirrored the trajectory of Ciara’s called off engagement to Future amid infidelity rumors. Meanwhile, Ciara supporters inferred she was merely holding herself to a higher standard. And many just showed up to see exactly how messy things would get in Ciara’s mentions.
If I could teach twitter anything, it would be the value of “both things can be true.”
Ciara can be deserving of a loving husband and involved stepparent without being a hoe AND there can issues with the way she has framed the social status of marriage.
BOTH THINGS CAN BE TRUE.
Ciara meeting Ayesha Curry for breakfast this morning pic.twitter.com/b9lVkC3lNC
*live from @ciara mentions* pic.twitter.com/eIH98cbhAD
Every so often, Ciara does something that reminds you to be grateful for the time Rihanna got her ass together on Twitter.
Ciara’s playing a dangerous game. You should never, no matter how perfect your relationship/marriage appears to be, sit on a throne and tell people why they’re not romantically successful. You can be the queen of the ball today and have cake in your face tomorrow!
Black churches *especially* fill the pews and the collection plate from single women who seek God to seek a partner bc that's what makes them "wifeable". And they preach to those women every week. They ain't never gon give that grift up. It's their bread and butter, baby.
I watched that Pastor Grey’s video and you have to be a whole fool to let that carnival barker tell you a damn thing about how to be a woman.
If anything, perhaps the lesson here would be to take marriage advice from one of Joel Osteen’s acolytes with a grain of salt. At press time, Ciara had not responded or offered any further explanation for her tweet.
