Idris Elba's wife in 'racism' blast over woman who hit her car and asked: 'Where are you from?'
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Sir Idris Elba's wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba has called out a “racist” interaction with a “hostile” woman who backed into her parked car in London.
The Canadian former model and activist - who married the actor in 2019 - said the driver “immediately” and repeatedly asked where she was from and made her feel like she didn’t “belong”.
The 36-year-old added that the woman tried to drive off despite hitting her car and explained how the “upsetting” incident highlights how “people feel increasingly comfortable treating black and brown people as conditional citizens”.
“Something happened a couple days ago that is just not sitting right with me,” Sabrina said in the TikTok video.
“And I don't usually come online when I'm still sort of like flustered or upset.
“But this woman backed up into my parked car and when I got out to speak to her about the interaction it immediately became hostile.”
Sabrina - who supported Idris when he was knighted by the King earlier this month - went on: “She very quickly asked me, ‘Where are you from?’ - keep in mind this woman backed up into my parked car - and I said, ‘Canadian' and then she asked again.
“And I think a lot of people know what that question means when they're asked in a tone.”
The United Nations goodwill ambassador - who has lived in London with Idris for the entirety of their nine-year relationship - continued: “She wasn't asking for my biography - she was trying to change the terms of the interaction.
“Suddenly it wasn't about the fact that she had hit my car. It was about whether or not I belonged enough to like hold her accountable.
“And this is the part that really bothered me and the part I felt like I needed to speak about because racism isn't always theatrical.
“Sometimes it works by redirecting conversations because you ask for accountability and suddenly my presence became the issue.”
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The influencer said it was vital to discuss the exchange in the context of the UK’s current climate, where political parties have “spent years publicly debating” who “belongs” and who is considered “too foreign”.
“I think we need to be honest about the climate in the UK right now,” she stated.
“When a country spends years publicly debating who belongs or who is really from here or who is too foreign, too demanding or like too ungrateful or too much of a burden… That language doesn't ever stay abstract.
“It becomes social permission. Permission for people like her, and it tells people that their suspicions are legitimate. Their resentment to them becomes reasonable and their contempt is like some kind of screwed-up common sense.
“And then it shows up in ordinary life like in a car park or in a queue when a stranger's tone when they ask you, ‘Where are you from?’ It's completely wrong.
“And they still feel the right to interrogate you. They still feel entitled to interrogate you.”
Sabrina, who is working alongside her husband on anti-knife crime campaigning in London, reiterated: “She backed up into me and then questioned my rights to question her. She tried to drive away and this is what frustrates me.
“Incidents can kind of get dismissed as like personality but misunderstanding is not just misunderstanding anymore, it's starting to feel like a pattern'.
“That pattern is what's making people feel increasingly comfortable treating black and brown people as conditional citizens as conditional neighbours or conditional Londoners.
“And you can live here and work here and contribute here and build a life here but in the wrong moment with the wrong person belonging is still treated like something they have the rights to question and I think that's what upset me.”
She went on: “Not the car, there is very little damage. It's that reminder that for some people that right to take up space is still negotiable.
“So I'm tired of like pretending that that's small because these moments might be ordinary and maybe they're not so harmful and in some way but they are hurtful.
“And right now I think a lot of us can feel it and the mood is shifting and people are becoming bolder and the quiet part is getting louder. And I don't think we should keep quietly pretending that we haven't noticed.
“And for somebody to back up into my car, try to drive off and when I stop them question my right to be able to question them.”
She concluded the clip by asking: “I mean what are we even doing anymore?”
Sabrina is a co-founder of S'ABLE Labs, her and Idris' inclusive, melanin-rich skincare and wellness brand and is also a United Nations goodwill ambassador for the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
She also works alongside Idris on anti-knife crime campaigning, including their new project - creating a cultural venue in North Kensington based on the kind of multicultural environment Idris grew up around in Hackney.