Russell Simmons has been working on his All Def Digital YouTube channel, something he made a lot of people acutely aware because of an ill-advised Harriet Tubman Sex Tape skit. The music mogul has now issued an apology for the YouTube video which has since been deleted.
Russell Simmons and his team posted the three-minute video which was meant to be funny but had the opposite affect on everyone, it seems. The video featured a Harriet Tubman actress seducing her master while a fellow slave videotapes it, in order to blackmail him into starting the Underground Railroad.
Simmons had originally tweeted that the video was "the funniest thing I've ever seen," but he's quickly changed his tune. He said in his apology on Global Grind,
In the whole history of Def Comedy Jam, I’ve never taken down a controversial comedian. 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."
Russell continued to explain his first thoughts of the video, "I’m a very liberal person with thick skin. 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 with Harriet Tubman outwitting the slave master? I thought it was politically correct. Silly me. I can now understand why so many people are upset. I have taken down the video. Lastly, I would never condone violence against women in any form, and for all of those I offended, I am sincerely sorry."
Although it's no longer up on the All Def Digital channel, you can still watch the skit here if you're interested.
