John Legend Responds to Racist Paparazzi Who Called Him a 'Monkey' (Video)

"We were right next to each other and we looked at each other like, 'Did he really just say that?' And he really said it. He basically called me a monkey," Legend explained during an interview with Variety Studio at Sundance.

"Black folks have had to deal with being called monkeys for a long time and dehumanization has always been a method of racism and subjugation of black people," he continued. "That's just part of American history and it's part of the present, apparently. We saw it with the former president, [Barack] Obama. Whenever people wanted to discount him or discount his wife, they compared them to apes. And we've seen that frequently."

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"I'm not hurt by someone saying that to me because I'm smarter, I'm stronger," he added. "I look down on that person that would say something like that, but it's a shame that still exists."

Teigen first exposed the photographer for his comments on Twitter writing, "Paparazzi at JFK just asked me 'if we evolved from monkeys, why is John Legend still around?' - and people wonder why celebs lose it in pics."

Listen to Legend's full response in the video (below).