In a recent video that was posted on XXL’s website, rapper Too Short talks about the know hows for young boys to turn a girl out. In the video he states “When you get to late middle school, early high school and you start feeling a certain way about the girls… I’m gonna tell you a couple tricks.”
Since his comments spread throughout social media and the media as a whole, the magazine, its editor-in-chief and Too Short have come under intense scrutiny.
Too Short and XXL Magazine has since apologized. The video and his column has been taken down as well, but some feel that still isn’t enough.
A petition was also started stating XXL should be held accountable for its actions and calling for the termination of EIC, Vanessa Satten. The EIC said she agrees with those who are angered by the video and relinquished responsibility for the video.
“I do not see all content before it goes live. When I saw this video, I was truly offended and thought it crossed the line. I had it taken down immediately. I am disappointed that an employee decided to post it and I am putting internal procedures in place to make sure content like this does not go on the site. The video goes against my value system and represents poor judgment on behalf of the individual who posted it.”
Too Short has this to say:
“I want to apologize to anyone I may have offended with the XXL video interview I recently did. When I got on camera I was in Too $hort mode and had a lapse of judgement.I would never advise a child or young man to do these things, it’s not how I get down. Although I have made my career on dirty raps, I have worked over the years to somewhat balance the content of my music with giving back to the community. Just coming from a man who wants to see young people get ahead in life, I’m gonna do my best to to help and not hurt. If you’re a young man or a kid who looks up to me, don’t get caught up in the pimp, player, gangster hip-hop personas. Just be yourself.”
Since the apology, the EIC has taken matters into her hands and suspended staff members who were responsible for producing and posting the video, and developed a new procedure before content is uploaded. Vanessa Satten also reiterated that she was no way down with the “fatherly advice”, saying in another statement as soon as she was made aware of the video, it was taken down.
