Who knew Harriet Tubman would become a top trending topic on twitter??
Hip-Hop impresario Russel Simmons is in hot water these days over what some claim is down right disrespectful to a very important historical Black figure.
The Global Grind owner came under heavy fire yesterday when her released a racy satire on his newly founded? All Def Digital YouTube channel.
The “skit” dubbed “Harriet Tubman Sex Tape” makes an attempt at mocking one of America’s most pioneering figures of her time and has sent shock-waves though Black Twitter and has garnered the attention of the NAACP.
Details + the offending video below (NSFW)…
In the video, familiar YouTube actress Shanna Malcolm, as Tubman, has over-the-top, aggressive sex with her ?Massa,? as she calls him, while a fellow slave records the carnal relations while hidden in the closet.
Tubman plans to use the sex tape to blackmail her white owner into letting her run the Underground Railroad, which the real-life Tubman used to lead hundreds of slaves to freedom.
Simmons had tweeted the video link on Wednesday, noting that it was the ?funniest thing I?ve ever seen.?
Initially resisting to the pressure, Simmons has now turned an about face and is attempting to rectify his historical mic check by removing the video from his youtube channel. Although obviously from the video above it’s still widely available online.
He’s also issued a statement of apology via his Global Grind website because nothing says “I’m sorry” more than a heartfelt apology surrounded by ads that generate revenue for company…. ?(But I digress).
?In the whole history of Def Comedy Jam, I?ve never taken down a controversial comedian,? he wrote. ?When my buddies from the NAACP called and asked me to take down the Harriet Tubman video from the All Def Digital YouTube channel and apologize, I agreed.
?I?m a very liberal person with thick skin and it?s hard to offend me. My first impression of the Harriet Tubman piece was that it was about what one of actors said in the video, that 162 years later, there?s still tremendous injustice. And Harriet Tubman outwitting the slave master, I thought it was politically correct. Silly me.?
Without judgement two things became blantantly obvious. One. The ignorance and lack of respect we have for historical figures that changed the world is troubling. And two. Common sense isn’t so common.
Did Russell Simmons go a bit too far or were you entertained by Harriet Tubman’s sex tape?