Eartha Kitt Couldn't Stop Laughing When Asked If She'd Compromise For A Man

"We must think about that one again," she told an interviewer in the vintage clip.
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Singer and actress Eartha Kitt was a woman of many talents, and one of her most commendable qualities was that she wasn’t in the business of compromising for men. 

In a clip from the 1982 documentary “All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story” that’s been making rounds on the internet for years, the late “Santa Baby” singer is asked about the concept of compromising for love. 

“But are you willing to compromise within a relationship?” the unidentified interviewer is heard asking Kitt in the beginning of the clip.

“Compromise? What is compromising?” Kitt asks as her facial expression becomes a wonderful combination of indignation and bewilderment. “Compromising for what? Compromising for what reason? ... What is compromise?” 

Kitt is seen clearly awaiting an answer before the interviewer provides more clarity to his question. “If a man came into your life, wouldn’t you want to compromise?” he asks. 

The singer then raises both eyebrows at the sheer ridiculousness of the question before beginning to laugh hysterically and suggesting that such a thing would be “stupid.”

Unfortunately, we’re unable to see the man’s reaction. 

“A man comes into my life and I have to compromise? We must think about that one again,” Kitt said. “A relationship is a relationship that has to be earned, not to compromise for.”

“When you fall in love, what is there to compromise about?” she asks.

Welp, you heard it here. You can watch an extended clip of the interview below: 

Before You Go

19th Century Black Women Activists
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