Soon enough, many Malaysians rallied against her and called her out for being racist, which not only attracted the attention of local celebrities but international media as well.
Among those who voiced out their disappointment towards Samantha is our very own Henry Golding.
'You have zero idea'
Golding recently took it to her Instagram stories to call Samantha out over her irresponsible remarks, saying that he was “infuriated” by it.
“You have zero idea what black people have to go through on a day to day bases. For you to be talking such racist sh*t on a platform like yours needs to be called out,” the ‘Crazy Rich Asian’ star wrote.
He then went on and talked about how important it was to lend a voice and educate people on the social injustice that’s happening in the world right now, including the Bersih rallies as an example.
The Sarawakian ended his stories by saying that he’s “sure as hell not going to stand idly by as some “two bit” celeb in Malaysia spouts some horrible sh*t.”
Yuna voices out too
Besides Golding, local songbird Yuna also reacted to the issue.Initially, the law graduate was left speechless by the former Miss Universe Malaysia's remarks.
She then posted what we could all learn from the viral issue:
Lesson of the day is,
— Yuna Zarai (@yunamusic) June 1, 2020
1. have a heart.
2. think before you say something stupid on social media.
3. learn about other people's pain
4. educate yourself before forming an opinion.
haih kau ni pun.
Over on her Instagram, she posted a lengthy take on how Samantha has “failed everyone out there who are fighting for equal rights”.
Yuna has been vocal about the #BlackLivesMatter movement days prior to the viral statement made by the beauty queen.
Samantha has yet to take down her posts nor apologise for her words.
Miss Universe Malaysia Organisation takes a stand
The Miss Universe Malaysia Organisation, however, has released a statement saying that they are no longer affliated with the former winner and “strongly condemns all acts of racism and prejudice anywhere in the world”.In a statement quoted by New Straits Times, MUMO described James' views as "inappropriate, offensive, unacceptable and hurtful".
"The views expressed on Samantha's personal Instagram account are her own personal view and are neither the view nor position of MUMO. Samantha Katie James is not contracted to MUMO and has not represented the organisation since June 2018.
"MUMO stands for a non-racial society and strongly condemns all acts of racism and prejudice anywhere in the world," said MUMO in the statement.