Yes. At least this story received enough attention to get this foul “artist” dumped.
You might recall that the singer, who has collaborated with Eminem and Gwen Stefani, told the crowd at a concert in Trinidad that he was going to have a dance off, and the winning young woman would receive a trip to Africa. The only prize the “winner” received was to be dry-humped all across the stage (see the video, which is hard to stomach, after the flip). Akon’s big problem, aside from the deception and treatment of women, is that the “winner” was an underaged teen.
Verizon Wireless has pulled its sponsorship of R&B/hip-hop artiste Akon, Jim Gerace, the company’s corporate strategy, policy manager, confirmed yesterday.More coverage on Verizon’s action:“We didn’t provide a statement or have one. I simply told Fox that we decided this week to stop sponsoring Akon. That’s all we have to say about it,” Gerace said.
When asked about the reason for the end of the Verizon/Akon partnership, Gerace told the Express: “We did not give them (Fox) a reason. We made the decision this week is all we are saying.”
…”We have music services on our cellphone service and we were promoting him as one of the artists. The other part of the sponsorship was the Gwen Stefani tour, of which he was an opening act. We are no longer sponsoring the tour.” Akon was scheduled to perform at Gwen Stefani’s tour, The Sweet Escape.
Verizon really didn’t want to see Akon “Smack That.”The communications company scrapped its partnership with the 25-year-old rapper Friday after a video was released that shows him simulating sex onstage with an underage girl during an Apr.12 concert in Trinidad.
Akon’s idea of entertainment — turning, twisting and even flipping a young teen across the stage in sexual positions.
Related:
* Hip hop star Akon dry humps 14-year-old onstage
* Russell Simmons calls for ‘clean up’ of hip-hop
Hat tips to Robin and Emily.
22 Responses to “Akon is dumped by Verizon”
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Lovely to see what “related” were videos enjoyed by others who watched that Akon clip.
Cheerleader Cat Fight
My Craziest Sex Experience
Incredible Leg Strength
Michelle Malkin was taking credit for this on last night’s O’Reilly Factor. Suddenly the victory doesn’t seem as sweet.
i think that’s really f’ed up, what Akon did at the concert. i can’t even look.
but i also think Pam is dead-on to this incident in the context of how the exploitation of women in pop music, writ large, is racist and ageist– that’s what leads to young Black women being under the spotlight in this problem. there’s no pathology specific to them, there are just lots of pathologies that *other people* have that end up trapping them in it, like a vise. it’s not just hip-hop or reggaeton, but it’s hip-hop *as much* as it is pop and rock, in a more acute way in this case but in a generalized way across the industry. this is one of the worst symptoms of a bigger problem. what separates feminists and anti-racists who cheerlead for a decision like the one Verizon made from right-wingers who would turn it into another Black-people-are-scary-sex-panic is that on that end, conservatives, racists, and heterosexists want this kind of exploitation to take place in the home, where no one can see it.
Well, that’s good news. He should be prosecuted.
Does anyone think this will affect ticket and cd sales, though?
Definitely good news. Maybe it won’t affect ticket sales, but it will affect the bottom line.
Pam, why is this tagged under “Abortion Rights” ?
Pam, why is this tagged under “Abortion Rights� ?
Mistake.
Sweet. I wasn’t expecting to see anything at all happen to him. This isn’t exactly the kind of action I would have hoped for, but at least it’s something. And now I can keep my Verizon service with semi-pride.
Man, what’s with the R&B guys, right? Was Akon trying to live down to the standard set by R. Kelly or something? Nate Dogg never did this shit.
That’s so weird, Pam. I was JUST thinking about getting back onto the “drop Akon, you corporate rich people!” project last night…and it took care of itself with respect to one bunch of “corporate rich people.”
Anyway, I do want to get more going…can we get a “call companies and ask them to divest” grassroots effort going the way the Daily Kos did with Ann Coulter ads?
Thank God for this. Somewhere, sooner or later, there have to be consequences.
pablo:
What!?!??!? A conservative talking head taking credit for something she had precisely fuck-all to do with? A right-wing pundit making an issue all about them?
Inconceivable! Surely, you jest?
Please?
I sent an email to Verizon on the 6th after reading the article about them dropping Akon:
Here’s the response:
I think a grassroots effort would definitely be a good idea.
Okay, now my decision about finally getting a cell phone becomes complicated. Well done on them, they just went to No.1 with a bullet. And for some reason all my Google ads on the sidebar are for Verizon.
First time I’ve ever seen that video. That was disgusting. That poor girl.
I think he should be charged with attempted rape. But that’s me, I am glad that Verizon stood up and said it wouldn’t promote that.
“Nate Dogg never did this shit.”
No, I don’t recollect him humping people on stage, but when you mention him, all I can hear is “I’ve got hos, in every area code….”
Its disgusting that the crowd cheered him on. And how he just tossed her away when he was done with her.
By the way, Pablo, I don’t get why it’s so unreasonable for Michelle Malkin to claim some credit for this. Looking at her blog archives, it seems like she deserves just as much as you do. Kudos to you both. I appreciate that she took it on as an issue of sexual assault and not as an issue of “women/[girls] being sexual.” It’s important to do right, and as far as I can tell, she did it right this time.
[…] At Pandagon, we see that Akon got dumped from Verizon. We also get a post on Systematic Racism. […]
[…] 11 May 2007 NY Times Leaps to Defense of Pop Star who Dry Humped 14-year-old Girl Posted by justinnisly under Akon , misogyny , Verizon , New York Times As you’veprobably heard by now, Senegalese-American R&B singer Akon recently lost his Verizon sponsorship following complaints about a concert in Trinidad in which he invited women to dance onstage, promising a free trip to Africa for the winner. In fact, the winner–who turned out to be 14–just got brutally dry humped around the stage by Akon and another member of his stage team. […]
Akon Sorry for Trinidad Humping…
After being dropped by Verizon, Akon (Aliaune Thiam) issued a public apology for the incident at the Zen nightclub in Trinidad where he simulated sex with an underage girl:
“First, and most important to me, I want to sincerely apologize for the e…
thats disgusting….degrading….WTF is wrong with the girl..if she had a problem she shuld have slapped him or sumthin…I swear Akon never again…i can never listen to his songs again or watch his videos ewww!!! i had bought a ticket to his concert ….i am reselling it thats if he is not in prison by then for attempted rape…when he use to caress women on stage and smack them that was bad but not as bad as this….seriously ewww!!!!! the freaking crowwd cheered him omg its degrading to women…..and he has 3 wifes at home…..verzion did the right thing….i am seriously considering verizon now as my new phone…I’m sorry I can’t get overthis *scream* and she is a pastors child oooh God if that was me( the gurl) my father will not consider me as his child…i would have to change my last name…OMG ewwwwww