Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, has criticized Lil Baby’s Grammys Performance of “The Bigger Picture,” which featured activist Tamika Mallory.
The performance, which debuted deep into Sunday night’s ceremony, opened with a depiction of Police Brutality featuring actor Kendrick Sampson. Mallory appeared later in the performance, as did Killer Mike of Run the Jewels.
In a Facebook post (notably from an account previously cited in reports from People, Insider, and others as belonging to Samaria Rice), Samaria shared a clip of the Mallory portion of the Grammys performance.
“Look at this clout chaser,” she said. “Did she lose something in this fight I don’t think so. That’s the problem they take us for a joke that’s why we never have justice cause of shit like this.”
Samaria also addressed her problems with the performance, and with the prevalence of such examples of what some have criticized as the commodification of those who were killed due to police brutality, in a number of additional posts on Sunday and Monday.
“FUCK A GRAMMY WHEN MY SON IS DEAD,” she said in one post. “FUCK ALL PIGS COPS.”
In another, she again mentioned Mallory, as well as seemingly calling out recently prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
“Tamike [sic] and the crew you bitches chasing clout along with Sonney, Crump, and Lee,” she said. “Y’all have literally fuck our fight up i hope not another family soul used y’all to represent them. Y’all might as well be junior pigs cops… I’m mad [as hell].”
In a statement shared alongside the performance’s debut (and prior to Samaria’s criticisms), Lil Baby detailed his intentions behind the Grammys performance.
“My performance is important to me and I had to make sure it was right,” he said. “Nominations aside, actually performing ‘The Bigger Picture’ means the most to me. I paint pictures with my songs and wanted the performance to bring that picture to life. Just like with the song, this performance had to reflect the reality. No sugar-coating. My family, my fans, and my city know who I do this for.”
