Mark Wahlberg's George Floyd Post Met With Derision

Not every celebrity is finding their anti-racist posts well received. Just ask Mark Wahlberg, who late last week posted a photo of George Floyd on Instagram, along with the following: "The murder of George Floyd is heartbreaking. We must all work together to fix this problem. I'm praying for all of us. God bless. #blacklivesmatter." A sampling of responses:

• "Are you the same person that chased black children and yelled racists epithets ? Are you the same person that has NEVER spoken up and taken accountability for those actions and the way you traumatized those kids? Asking for a friend."
• "Let's not forget that Mark Wahlberg himself almost beat an Asian man to death when he was a teenager…"
• "YOUR WIKIPEDIA PAGE HAS A LITERAL HATE CRIMES SECTION"
• "I just have to laugh"

His Wikipedia page does indeed have a lengthy section titled "Racial Incidents," which uses as a source an Associated Press article that recounts how in June 1986, a 15-year-old Wahlberg and some white friends chased a group of black students who were leaving a beach, throwing rocks at them and yelling "Kill the [n-word]" until an ambulance driver stepped in. A civil rights injunction was filed against him; the AP described it as "essentially a stern warning" that another hate crime would lead to jail time. And jail time ultimately came: In 1988 Wahlberg attacked two Vietnamese men while trying to steal beer and allegedly used racial slurs. Page Six reports he spent about a month-and-a-half in prison. In 2014 he sought a pardon for the 1988 crime but was not awarded one. (More Mark Wahlberg stories.)