The Legend of Marilyn Monroe Helping Ella Fitzgerald at the Mocambo Club and Its Critics

There is a much-repeated recollection of Ella Fitzgerald's: when she was not being invited to sing in clubs because she was black, Marilyn Monroe offered the manager of the prestigious Mocambo club to come and sit at a table right by the stage, reserved for all the days Ella would be singing. A number of publications debunk this beautiful legend: it is held that singers of colour were at this time performing freely at the Mocambo and other clubs, and that Monroe did not fly to Los Angeles from New York on the days of her friend's performances, but evidently helped her to get onto the stage simply by using her influence. But this story is not about that; it is about how, in the ideal case, 'white privilege' can serve the common cause.