Oxygen Issues Statement Denying All My Babies’ Mamas Reality Show Is Racist
Last week, Oxygen released a sizzle reel for a reality show called All My Babies’ Mamas.
It’s already getting a lot of attention although it’s debatable whether the attention is deserved and whether the conversations about the show have been productive.
In short, it’s an upcoming television program about a rapper called Shawty Lo who needs condoms not attention because he’s ostensibly having unprotected sex with a myriad of women. Most of whom know the score but still procreate with him anyway. He has 11 kids by 10 baby mothers all of whom will feature on the show.
Here’s the clip, if you can stand it. It’s certainly obnoxious, although it’s debatable whether it’s pandering to racist stereotypes about single black mothers and absent or otherwise sexually irresponsible black fathers.
Responding to backlash about the show that included a Change.org petition with nearly 20,000 signatures, Oxygen released a statement denying that the show is selling racism (a network being owned by Oprah doesn’t mean its producers cannot be racist).
The network said: “Oxygen’s one-hour special in development is not meant to be a stereotypical representation of everyday life for any one demographic or cross section of society. It is a look at one unique family and their complicated, intertwined life. Oxygen Media’s diverse team of creative executives will continue developing the show with this point of view.”
The show is still in development and does not yet have a premiere date.