Not So Funny After All

Harriet Tubman Sex Tape Parody Sparks Twitter Outrage From Spike Lee and More

Russell Simmons tried to be funny with his ‘Harriet Tubman Sex Tape’. It didn’t go over so well.

Russell Simmons is in hot water after yesterday’s release of Harriet Tubman Sex Tape. In the video, the celebrated abolitionist has another slave film her from a closet as she has sex with her white master. She plans to use the tape as blackmail for her freedom. The parody was the first work for Simmons’s new YouTube channel, All Def Digital. He thought it was hilarious and called it “the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Simmons was one of the few who found the video even remotely amusing. Here are some of the negative reactions he received on Twitter:

And although he didn't say he agreed with the it, Patton Oswalt provided a little comic relief:

Following the storm of criticism, Simmons had the video taken down and issued an apology. He wrote on Global Grind’s website, “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.”

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Rachel Osman

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