Eartha Kitt Confronts White House

In January 1968, singer and actress Eartha Kitt, known as the original voice behind “Santa Baby” and later as Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove, attended a White House luncheon hosted by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. When the discussion turned to youth and crime, Kitt bluntly told her, “You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.” Her criticism of the Vietnam War sparked a public and political backlash in the United States. According to later reports, she was effectively blacklisted in her home country, and the CIA compiled a dossier on her, forcing her to work mainly in Europe and abroad for several years.

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