I’m really beginning to think that OG Russell Simmons played us all with his extremely offense endorsement of Harriet Tubman’s sex tape that caused waves a few days ago.
Simmons, whose keen business sense formed one of the most celebrated record companies in hip-hop and music history, had Black Twitter in an uproar over the comedic sketch aimed at one of history’s most polarizing figures. The outrage was so great, that Simmons removed all digital evidence of his blunder, and proceeded to issue a mea culpa via his popular blog site.
Now more information on this underground idea has come to the surface, and its been discovered that the Global Grind owner, and his crew who created the now infamous ‘sex tape’ was financed by some of Hollywood’s most powerful heavy hitters!
Details below…
Simmons announced a partnership between the Universal Music Group, YouTube, and his company, All Def Digital, in July.?Simmons is the majority shareholder of the website Global Grind, where news of the arrangement first broke.
?The label will leverage the All Def Digital platform, a new channel and forthcoming multi-channel network on YouTube founded by Russell Simmons and Brian Robbins with funding from YouTube,? the site reported, ?which will produce cutting edge programming featuring an array of culturally diverse talent.? [Source]
[Sidebar: If Tubman’s “sex tape” is considered ‘cutting edge’ then Im shaking in boots wondering whats next to come. But I digress…]
Simmons? All Def Digital announced the Harriet Tubman sex tape on August 14th (click HERE if you missed it) and listed AwesomenessTV, a wholly owned subsidiary of DreamWorks, as a partner. Universal Music Group is owned by Vivendi.
?I?ve worked my entire professional life to promote up-and-coming talent and the new art forms they create and YouTube is the perfect platform for this new generation,? said Simmons.
?Just as our talent will benefit from being able to engage directly with their fans, YouTube will benefit from having a network that reflects the incredible diversity of the new America.?
It was beyond offensive that this sex tape ever saw the light of day. But to now know that a bunch of ‘suits’ joined Simmons behind the scenes of this creation, as a Black woman I am offended beyond words.
The yoga enthusiast recently sat down with some intenet personality I’ve never heard of to further explain his slight at Tubman with that horrible parody and also took an opportunity to take aim at Hollywood detractors like Spike Lee, who tweeted his disgust?regarding the matter.
According to Simmons, the NAACP informed him of the droves of Black women that were angered by his skit:
The NAACP called me and I said, ?Oh s?t, really, really, really?? The NAACP has called me before and has been mad at me and I work with them regularly, so I don?t always listen to everything they say.
When they explained to me this, and when other people that I really respect explained to me?it was my brain that made the decision to pull it. Not outrage. There?s outrage in almost everything I do.
I guess ‘pushing the envelope’ is what Simmons does best… even at the expense of his own ancestors. It’s an interesting story to say the least, but what do you think?
For those of you calling to boycott Simmons… are y’all prepared to boycott Youtube and Dreamworks too?