Russell Simmons Takes Down ‘Harriet Tubman Sex Tape’

Russell Simmons’ new Youtube channel ‘All Def Digital’ is off to a rocky start. The 55-year-old business magnate has created quite the controversy over a little “comedy” short that was posted on his new Youtube channel.

The comedy piece was titled, “Harriet Tubman Sex Tape” and in the video, the famous abolitionist was depicted having sex with her “master” in an attempt to blackmail him into creating the Underground Railroad. Understandably, this video got a lot of criticism, especially from black women.

The backlash against the video forced Russell Simmons to take down the video. However, someone re-uploaded it and you can watch it down below….

Russell is now apologizing for the video and he told EW the following,

“For my entire life, I have been protective of artistic freedom and protective of artists. In the history of Def Comedy Jam or Def Poetry Jam or Def Jam Records, I have never censored an artist. But I took it down, because all the artists involved agreed it was okay. What broke my heart was how upset and enraged black women were.”

He explained that he received angry personal phone calls from women close to him. They expressed their anger towards the video, and apparently made Russell see how hurtful it could be to the black community.

“It’s the oldest form of black comedy—the oppressed turning the tables on the oppressor. That’s what I saw in that video. I didn’t see some of the things that hurt black women, and had I seen those things I probably wouldn’t have put it up. Politically, it was okay. Emotionally, it was not.”

Russell promises that this won’t change the future of his Youtube channel. He says he will continue to push boundaries and allow young artists the creative freedom they need to succeed.

…just as long as it doesn’t offend anybody, right?