The REAL Betty Boop Was A Black Woman!

Forgotten by history and singing style stolen by white woman who claimed it was hers!

Betty Boop, a powerful symbol of carefree, unashamed sexuality. She is an image molded from the free and easy Flapper Era with all its energetic vices. Everybody knows Betty Boop but very little of us have heard about Baby Esther, the talented black singer who inspired Betty Boop.

Baby Esther, or Esther Jones, had an enchanting, childish voice that brought throngs of jazz-loving visitors to the Cotton Club in Harlem. Her singing voice was flirtatious, lyrical and according to the audience, had a siren-ring to it. Betty Boop’s character imitated the baby-like, seductive voice that Esther used in her performances. Baby Esther signature song Boop-oop-a-doo, was an instant hit in New York. This phrase inspired the name, “Betty Boop.”

Unfortunately, she had been forgotten by history and Helen Kane furthered pushed Baby Esther into the shadows by falsely claiming to have invented the baby-like singing style and famous catch phrase, Boop-oop-a-doo. In reality, Helen Kane had regularly seen Baby Esther performances in the Cotton Club and copied her technique of singing. This was confirmed by Lou Bolton, Baby Esther manager, who went to see her performances accompanied by Helen Kane.

‘Just a few weeks later, Kane began to “boop”. — Lou Bolton

In May 1932, Helen Kane sued the creator of Betty Boop, Max Fleischer, and Paramount Corporation for creating a cartoon character that exploited her personality and image. She sued for a $250,000 infringement lawsuit on the basis of using her likeness without paid consent. The law suit was largely in her favour until a clip was discovered of Baby Esther singing and presented at court as evidence. Her law suit failed due to the Judge ruling that the “baby” technique of singing most likely did not originate from Helen Kane. Sadly, the story does not end there.

Helen Kane cruelly took advantage of Betty Boop growing stardom and continued to claim to be the original inspiration for the character. Many believed her charade, unaware that Kane had based her entire route from Baby Esther. She used the press to rebrand herself as “The Original boop boop a-doop girl.” Kane released records, a rival cartoon under this nickname and involved herself in advertisements.

And where was Baby Esther?

By the time of the law suit, Esther had long disappeared from public view and performance. Her previous manager believed her to be in Paris and others claimed she was dead. Alive or dead, what mattered most is that she nor her family made a public appearance or announcement during or after the lawsuit.

To make matters worse, the creators of Betty Boop did not publicly acknowledge that Baby Esther inspired the creation of this character. After using her as a defense in the lawsuit, they dropped and omitted Baby Esther once she served no purpose.

Baby Esther was forgotten by history, whitewashed away by the Betty Boop caricature. She was literally whitewashed from history.

Baby Esther isn’t just an icon of the Betty Boop character. She was an artist who popularized her unique, childish singing style. She brought a fresh, flamboyant take to jazz music that became influential. While she fell into recluse, her talent was copied by others and she did not receive a penny for it, let alone any acknowledgement.

The injustice is disgusting and a reminder of the blithe that continues to haunt America today. Black History goes largely unacknowledged and so do their achievements. Black people’s stories, experiences and accomplishments shaped so much that is America today.

Do not let Baby Esther be forgotten by history.