‘Harriet Tubman Sex Tape’ Parody Gives New Meaning to the Word Disgraceful (VIDEO)

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Ericka Sóuter 1 hour ago

With a title like "Harriet Tubman Sex Tape," you have to wonder how this video got made in the first place. If you haven't seen it, consider yourselves lucky. It was featured on media mogul Russell Simmons' YouTube channel All Def Digital (ADD). Disgusting and disturbing doesn't even begin to express the emotions this tasteless spoof evokes. It has caused a controversy the day since its release and understandably so. It appears to make light of one of the most horrific aspects of American history.

The video depicts the famous abolitionist having sex with "Massa" and videotaping it so that she can blackmail him into helping with the Underground Railroad. During the "reenactment," Tubman seduces the slave owner, telling him, "All these years I've been acting like I didn't enjoy our special time together." When Simmons first posted the video, he sent a tweet heralding it as "the funniest thing I've ever seen." Can that possibly be true? Female slaves who were raped by their white masters is not funny, no matter how you spin it.

This is one of the most disgraceful attempts at entertainment I have ever seen. I am just floored that someone as intelligent and business savvy as Simmons would think this is hilarious -- especially as a person of color. With all of the backlash he has received, he has since taken the video down and apologized, now realizing why it is so distasteful. However, he added in his defense, "With Harriet Tubman outwitting the slave master, I thought it was politically correct ... silly me ... for all of those I have offended, I am sincerely sorry."

But as much as I hate the video -- and I do -- I admire the message Simmons tried quite unsuccessfully to get out there: “That 162 years later, there’s still tremendous injustice.” But there are far better ways to do that. C’mon man. You know better ... or at least you do now.

What do you think of the "Harriet Tubman Sex Tape"? Are critics overreacting?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ericka Sóuter

is a veteran pop culture and celeb news writer. That experience boils down to two things: she knows way too much about the Kardashians and she dominates on Trivial Pursuit's arts and entertainment questions.

More
?