Marsai Martin does not play when it comes to bats! While speaking at the “When We All Vote” panel at Blavity’s AFROTECH Conference, Martin’s comments were derailed by what folks first thought was a bird. After the bird, which attendees later realized was a bat, started to swoop around the stage, Martin and moderator Sylvia Obell fled.
Leading up to bat-gate, Martin and Obell discussed how the actor plans to engage in the upcoming election.
“I would just continue what I’m doing now, which is having the conversations, to be able to talk about it, for my audience to be aware of it,” she explained.
Martin said that she’s lucky enough to have a diverse fanbase, all of whom need to understand the power of their vote.
“I’m grateful enough to be able to have an audience with a range of people, like we got aunties, we got cousins, even adults that are just now realizing how important is,” she said.
Empowering voters to cast their ballots is important to Martin, an ambassador of When We All Vote, launched by former first lady Michelle Obama to improve election participation in the U.S.
“I think it is very important for me to use my platform, and not just on social media, but, you know, we always got to find creative ways to show our impact,” she said, adding that her production company, Genius Productions, makes sure to release content that helps viewers be “more informed and more updated on what’s going on.”
In a video of the panel discussion, Martin and Obell learn of the bat’s presence at the venue and both immediately panic. A clip in the video shows the actor on the floor while Obell and the audience roar in laughter and duck, hoping to avoid the bat’s wrath.
“If that lands on my head, I swear it’s going to get unprofessional real quick,” Obell said with a nervous chuckle.
The end of the video shows the bat fly near the stage, leading Martin and Obell to make their exit. Martin dashed onto the stage after seeking refuge to get her and Obell’s belongings.
“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a bat!? A @WhenWeAllVote panel with @MarsaiMartin had a unexpected visitor at #AfrotechConference 🦇,” Blavity wrote on Instagram along with the clip.
View this post on Instagram
