Michael B. Jordan has hit back at rumours that he doesn't date black women, admitting the speculation "bothered me for a minute".
The rumours began in 2015, when Michael was asked about reports linking him to Kendall Jenner during an interview with GQ magazine. Addressing the claims, Michael told the publication: "It’s the world we live in. They see white and Black. I don’t.”
"A lot of Black fans were feeling like, 'Oh, my God, he should have been with a Black woman’ and that whole thing. I get it, but on the other hand it’s, like, relax. You know – it’s 2015. It’s okay! People can like one another, not necessarily from the same history or culture or whatever the f**k it is."
After the backlash following the release of the article, Michael apologised, but he's had to fight claims he won't date black women ever since.
He once again addressed the rumours in an new interview with Essence magazine, in which he said: "My dad and my mom both said, 'If they only knew.' If they only knew. And that's the thing that keeps me not tripping about it, you know what I mean?"
Michael added that he has become more wary of dating in the public eye since being linked to such claims.
"It makes me hesitant about whoever I'm seen with. I'm finally starting to get to a place now where I don't care, but it bothered me for a minute," he explained. "It made me more conscious of things I say and how I move, and what could happen if I leave a club or a restaurant or the movies. If I leave anywhere, any known place with anybody, there's going to be speculation."
During the interview, the Fahrenheit 451 star also revealed what it is he looks for in a romantic partner.
"The eyes - they don't tell lies," he said. "The neck, the hands. There's something about a woman's hands. It's important. Of course, I'm interested in lips and body. (But) I'm not just looking for looks. I'm into the whole person. Also her smell, how the woman smells, it's crucial."
