Source: Aaron J. Thorton/Paras Griffin/Getty / Aaron J. Thorton/Paras Griffin
Get it, Sexxy! After being blasted by Dr. Martin Luther King’s daughter, Bernice King, for posting “distasteful” and “deplorable” AI images of the civil rights leader, Sexyy Red issued an apology.
On the same day we observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Donald Trump was sworn into office, Sexyy Red was one of several jokers who posted AI-generated images of Dr. King.
Sexyy first shared an AI-generated image of her holding hands with him, then posted another fake image of them together at the 1963 March on Washington while holding cash.
According to Billboard, Dr. King’s daughter Bernice King was offended by the images and blasted Sexxy Redd for her “intentionally distasteful” posts directed towards her family.
“This is intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable, and disrespectful to my family and my father, who is not here to respond himself because he was assassinated for working for your civil and human rights and to end war and poverty,” Bernice tweeted.
Bernice asked Sexyy to delete the images before defending her from online attacks calling her “ghetto” and “trash.”
“Please don’t project your thoughts onto me. I don’t believe Sexyy Red to be a “degenerate,” “ghetto,” or “trash,” wrote King. “I have spoken out in the past about the use of and comparison to either of my parents to denigrate other people.
“I just don’t understand this type of use of my father’s image (on #MLKDay, no less), in a way that does not convey what we know to be true about his service and sacrifice.”
Eventually, the St. Louis rapper took accountability for her actions and apologized to Bernice in a tweet.
“You ain’t wrong, never meant to disrespect your family my apologies. Just resposted something I saw that I thought was innocent,” Sexyy wrote before obliging Bernice’s takedown request.
Bernice King Accepts Sexyy Red’s Apology
Bernice King graciously accepted Sexyy’s apology and made it a teachable moment for others who use Dr. King’s image for party fliers and legislation.
Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
“I hope you understand my concerns about the image,” she tweeted. “I know that my father has become a bit of a caricature to the world and that his image is often used with no regard to his family, his sacrificial work, or to the tragic, unjust way in which he died (a state-sanctioned assassination). Unfortunately, I regularly challenge the disregard.”
She continued,
“I earnestly wish that people would imagine what it would feel like to see their deceased, murdered father repurposed for party fliers, unjust legislation, etc.”
Dr. King fought relentlessly to ensure we all had the opportunity to chase our wildest dreams, and we all benefit from the work he did and the work Bernice continues to do. The very LEAST we can all do is keep his likeness and legacy safe.
Despite Sexyy thinking the posts were “innocent,” the political climate has made many Americans nervous that what MLK fought for could be in jeopardy in the next four years.
Simply put, let’s all read the room and remember some jokes are just better off left in the drafts.
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