James Blake breaks his silence to defend Jameela Jamil from ‘disgusting’ accusations that she faked her illnesses
James Blake and Jameela Jamil at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles, California. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Musician James Blake has broken his silence to defend his girlfriend, Jameela Jamil, after a week in which the Good Place actress was accused of faking her health issues.
After a tweet accusing Jamil, 33, of having Munchausen’s – a mental-health condition in which sufferers fake illnesses for attention – went viral, the actress was rounded on by trolls.
This included an attack by Piers Morgan, who said Jamil was “virtue-signalling” and “victimhood-craving”.
In a Valentine’s Day tweet, Blake, 31, said he “would have spoken on this earlier but Jameela asked me not to”.
“It’s pretty disgusting to watch the woman I love just be dog piled on every day for such ridiculous things,” Blake said.
“I am there when she turns down amazing job opportunities because of her health limitations. I actually live with her.
“Her being attractive, tall and successful doesn’t mean she hasn’t been sick.”
In the note posted to Twitter, Blake also addressed Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which Jamil has and which he described as a “very real, very debilitating condition”.
“You don’t know this woman,” he said. “You don’t know what her life is, and has been like.
“But I do, and I’m not gonna stand by and let some total strangers try to push my girlfriend over the edge to what… stop her from helping kids with eating disorders? Stop removing mainstream shame of talking about mental health?”
I would have spoken on this earlier but Jameela asked me not to. Please read x pic.twitter.com/edpC3BRwd8
— James Blake (@jamesblake) February 14, 2020
Jameela Jamil comes out as queer.
Last week, on February 6, Jamil faced an immense backlash after it was announced she’ll be a judge on upcoming HBO ballroom show Legendary.
Many complained that she was taking up space which rightfully belonged to people from the Black queer community – specifically members of the ballroom scene or those with a connection to it..
Ballroom is a form of dance that originated in New York and has long been a symbol of resistance and queerness in the black LGBT+ community.
The following day (February 7), Jamil came out as queer in response to criticism she was receiving.
The response to her coming out was broadly negative, with many saying she was doing it to deflect the heavy criticism she was receiving for accepting a prominent role in the series despite her lack of ballroom experience.
On February 10, Jamil opened up about the “perfect clusterf*ck” of events that had led up to her coming out as queer.
Admitting that the timing of her coming out “was bad,” she explained that “in a moment of distress and pain, personal things were blurted out”.
“Timing aside”, Jamil said that her queerness was “better out than in”, and thanked the thousands of fans who had sent her love and support in the days that followed, including some who came out to her privately.
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1228373715873943555?s=20
