The Oxygen Network Officially Pulls The Plug On All My Babies’ Mamas
The Oxygen network has officially decided to scrap plans for a reality television special that would have followed the life and adventures of rapper Shawty Lo and his large family (Shawty Lo has 11 children with 10 women and it’s rumours he’s expecting another baby with his ex-girlfriend).
As reported by Hollywoodite last week, the Oxygen network was already catching fire and public outrage.
An online petition that originated on the website Change.org claimed the upcoming special was racist and exploitative. Last week, Hollywoodite reported that the signature count had reached 20,000. As of yesterday, they had surpassed 37,000.
When the hailstorm of controversy and negative press surrounding All My Babies’ Mamas initially broke, the Oxygen network backed up their special in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter which stated: “The special wasn’t meant to be a stereotypical representation 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.”
However, the pressure against Oxygen to cancel the special became insurmountable which led the broadcaster to release this recent statement to CNN: “As part of our developmental process, we have reviewed casting and decided not to move forward with the special,” Oxygen continued the statement by saying “We will continue to develop compelling content that resonates with our young female viewers and drives the cultural conversation.”
“The Color of Change” organization also played a part in All My Babies’ Mamas cancellation by spearheading their own petition and has released this statement in response to the Oxygen Network’s decision: “We thank Oxygen Media for taking this important step. The tremendous response from over 40,000 colorofchange.org members, coupled with national outrage from Black folks, sent a clear message that exploitative television shows like All My Babies’ Mamas are unacceptable.”
Wow, 11 babies with 10 baby mamas!! Not a child support bill I think any of us would like sent in the mail.