Normani Kordei was interviewed on ABC News' "Nightline" on Monday night, May 15, 2017. Even though she is going into the finals on "Dancing With The Stars," she was interviewed to talk about being cyber-bullied most of her life.
In her package on "Dancing with the Stars" last week, the Fifth Harmony singer explained how she has been bullied. She danced to the song "Freedom" by Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton for which she received a perfect score. Her dance told the story of finding freedom after having been bullied most of her life.
The 20-year-old singer revealed how she has been bullied off and online.
People have called her the "N" word, and she has been sent images of individuals being whipped, beaten, and even hanged. When asked if people have always bullied her, Normani said she went to a predominantly white school where she stood out because she is black. Once, on the playground, a little girl said she didn't want to play with Normani because she was a "burnt biscuit."
Social media
Normani said that because of her career she wanted to be on social media, but she took time off from all her social media accounts for two months. When she returned, she encountered much of the same. She said she had to realize that it was not about her at all. People are unhappy with their own lives, and they take their frustrations out on people who are trying to make something of themselves.
It is interesting that even though Kordei asserts that she has been cyber-bullied, she must have gotten enough votes to keep her on "Dancing with the Stars" because she is in the finals, and most people think there is a good chance that she will win the competition this season. Her dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy is the one who encouraged her to share her story.
Kordei's journey
Kordei participated in “The X Factor" in 2012. Simon Cowell saw her potential and put her in a group with other teens. The music producer molded the teens into the all-female group Fifth Harmony. At the time, there were five girls, but one dropped out of the group in December 2016. The group has not been renamed, and they have continued on with the remaining members.
Watch "Dancing with the Stars" on Monday night at 8 p.m. on ABC to see if Normani and Val become champions.
