MYRNA SMITH ANSWERED THE WORST ELVIS RUMOR: THE SHOCKING TRUTH BEHIND A CLAIM THAT REFUSED TO DIE
For decades, one of the most damaging stories ever associated with Elvis Presley has been repeated as though it were an established fact. It is a shocking accusation—one that painted the King of Rock ’n’ Roll as openly racist and claimed he once made a deeply insulting remark about Black people.
But there is a problem.
Where is the original evidence?
That question sits at the heart of the story surrounding Myrna Smith and the Sweet Inspirations, two Black soul singers who performed alongside Elvis and became an important part of his stage shows. Smith recalled that the group was actually criticized within the Black community simply because they were singing with Elvis Presley.
People asked them a blunt question: Why were you singing with Elvis?
Behind that question was the rumor that had followed Elvis for years—the claim that he supposedly said Black people were only good for buying his records and shining his shoes.
The allegation became one of the most repeated stories about Elvis. Yet when researchers attempted to trace it back to its original source, something extraordinary happened.
They couldn’t find one.
The earliest known appearance of the alleged statement in print dates to 1957, in the magazine Sepia. The publication reportedly claimed that Elvis had made the remark either in Boston or during Edward R. Murrow’s television program Person to Person. Both details could be checked—and both were wrong. Elvis had not appeared on Murrow’s program, and the Boston claim did not withstand scrutiny.
That opened a much bigger question: if the details surrounding the supposed quotation were demonstrably incorrect, where had the story actually originated?
A major investigation followed.
According to the account presented in the video, Jet magazine sent associate editor Louie Robinson to investigate the accusation. Robinson reportedly went directly to Elvis while he was filming Jailhouse Rock and asked him about the allegation.
Elvis denied ever making the statement.
But Robinson didn’t stop there. He reportedly contacted people who had known Elvis from his childhood in Tupelo, Mississippi, attempting to determine whether there was any credible foundation for the accusation.
The result was striking: the investigation could not establish a reliable source for the quotation.
And Myrna Smith’s own experience with Elvis carried enormous weight for her.
She acknowledged that nobody is perfect and that people can say things they later regret. But after years of personally working with Elvis, her conclusion was simple: he treated her and the other women with extraordinary care.
Other Black artists who knew Elvis also offered accounts that complicate the racist image created by the rumor.
B.B. King remembered Elvis as respectful and polite, while James Brown described Elvis as a genuine friend. Darlene Love likewise rejected the idea that Elvis was someone she would consider racist.
None of those personal testimonies can reveal what was hidden inside another person’s private thoughts. But they do provide firsthand evidence about how Elvis behaved around Black performers and musicians who actually knew him.
There is also another important part of the story that should not be ignored.
The broader history of race and rock ’n’ roll is complicated. Black musicians created and developed many of the musical traditions that became foundational to rock ’n’ roll, while white performers—including Elvis—often received greater commercial exposure and financial rewards. That historical debate is legitimate and deserves serious discussion.
But it is not the same question as whether Elvis actually said the infamous sentence attributed to him.
And Elvis himself repeatedly acknowledged the Black artists who influenced him.
He publicly recognized musicians such as Fats Domino and rejected the idea that he had personally invented rock ’n’ roll. In one famous account from Las Vegas, when Elvis was called the “King,” he pointed toward Fats Domino and identified him as the real king of rock ’n’ roll.
Then there is the testimony of the people who stood beside Elvis.
Myrna Smith wasn’t simply defending a distant celebrity. She was describing someone she had personally worked with for years.
Her answer to those who questioned why she performed with Elvis was remarkably simple:
Why not?
That may be the most revealing part of the entire story.
The rumor survived for generations because accusations travel faster than corrections. A sensational sentence can be repeated thousands of times, eventually becoming accepted simply because so many people have heard it.
But repetition is not proof.
The surviving evidence raises serious doubts about the famous quotation. Its earliest known printed version contained incorrect details. Attempts to trace it to a reliable original source failed. Elvis denied saying it. And numerous Black musicians who personally knew or worked with him described experiences that did not match the image created by the rumor.
That does not mean Elvis should be placed beyond criticism or that every question about race, music, cultural influence, or the entertainment industry should be dismissed.
It means something much simpler:
A serious historical claim deserves serious evidence.
And when one of the most damaging statements ever attributed to Elvis Presley cannot be traced to a reliable original source, while people who actually knew him dispute the story, perhaps it is time to stop repeating the accusation as unquestioned fact.
Myrna Smith had her own verdict after years beside Elvis.
He treated her royally.
And now, decades later, the question remains:
When firsthand witnesses tell you one story, but an unsourced rumor tells you another—which one deserves your belief?