BET’s executives are being urged to pull Rihanna’s latest music video “Man Down” from the air, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
In the video BET premiered Tuesday, Rihanna pulls out a revolver and executes the man who sexually assaulted her. Abuse appears to be a topic of interest for Rihanna, who was beaten in 2009 by boyfriend Christ Brown. Since then, she’s covered the female in denial with “Love the Way You Lie,” a female who enjoys abuse in the sadomasochistic track “S&M,” and finally, the vengeful victim in “Man Down.”
The Parents Television Council, Industry ears and the Enough is Enough Campaign have come together to “condemn” the video because of the violence illustrated.
Paul Porter, co-founder of Industry Ears and a former music programmer for BET, dubbed the video a “shoot-and-kill theme song.””In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in primetime. Viacom’s standards and practices department has reached another new low.”
Porter went on to say “the world would stop if Chris Brown had shot a woman in his video, and Rihanna shouldn’t get a free pass."
"Man Down" is a clear violation of BET's own programming guidelines shared with the public by Debra Lee, the chairman and CEO of BET Networks.
Dealman Coates, founder of Enough is Enough, a campaign to stem the violence in television, video, etc... says. “I join with the Parents Television Council and Industry Ears in calling on Viacom executives to immediately pull the video from programs that are targeted to youth and teenagers."
Rihanna has been responding to the censure via Twitter. Recently, she tweeted:
“The music industry isn't exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! Its your job to make sure they dont turn out like US.”
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