James Blake Defends Girlfriend Jameela Jamil

James Blake has some words for anyone who wants to come for his girlfriend, Jameela Jamil, after she was widely accused of faking various health problems for attention. James took to social media to address the situation and validate Jameela’s medical issues, and to tell everyone to back off his lady.

“It’s pretty disgusting to watch the woman I love just be dog piled on every day for such ridiculous things,” he began the Notes app message. “She hasn’t sold dangerous products to kids. She hasn’t abused anyone. She hasn’t funded anything dangerous or brought any deliberate harm to any marginalized group. She’s done her best as an ever learning human, as most of us are, to help other people with her privilege. She does this because she had such a difficult life. Because she doesn’t want others to feel alone, gaslit or ashamed the way she has.”

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James goes on to list the various struggles he’s witnessed Jameela go through with her body, in an effort to validate them to those who were skeptical. “I am there for her swollen joints, her dislocations, her severe allergic reactions, her constant high fevers,” he writes. “I was there for her concussion, her 3 months of seizures, when the doctor fave her the cancer diagnosis, and for all her operations and their complications due to EDS. I can feel the lumps in her back from the car accident and see all the scars. 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.”

He then describes the specific genetic connective tissue disorder Jameela does actually have. “Ehlers Danlos syndrome is a very real, very debilitating condition. More and more people are discovering they have it, but because it’s vastly under researched and the patients, as with most invisible disabilities look well, people constantly doubt and mock those suffering. May none of us ever know the pain and frustration of that existence. I feel lucky not to, watching how many jobs and fun nights out my girlfriend has had to turn down because of what her body can and can’t do. Huge, life changing jobs.”

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He concludes his statement by challenging Jameela’s haters to confront themselves and reevaluate what they’re doing. “You don’t know this woman. A lot of you literally think she’s Tahani from the Good Place. 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? What are any of you even doing? And why are so many of you enjoying this? It’s sick to watch, and I don’t ever see men treated like this, the way we tear women from limb to limb.”

The Internet began to “dog pile” onto Jameela by questioning the legitimacy of Jameela’s health issues after she was heavily criticized for signing on to be a judge on the upcoming HBO voguing competition show, Legendary, in which eight different ballroom houses will compete for a grand prize. Folks expressed their disappointment that someone with no voguing experience was seemingly taking up space in the ballroom scene, which is a predominately black and Latino subculture of the LGBTQ community. Jameela attempted to defend her position and validate her decision by coming out as queer, which only landed her more scrutiny.