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Things We Saw Today: The Smith Family Calls Out Shane Dawson for Video of Him Sexualizing 11-Year-Old Willow Smith

Set. It. Off.

2019 MTV Movie And TV Awards - Red Carpet SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 15: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been processed using digital filters) Jada Pinkett Smith attends the 2019 MTV Movie and TV Awards at Barker Hangar on June 15, 2019 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for MTV)

A video resurfaced of Youtuber Shane Dawson making sexual gestures towards a poster of then-11-year-old Willow Smith. Both Jada Pinkett Smith and Jaden Smith took to Twitter calling out Dawson, who previously made a video on Friday “apologizing” for his actions.

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The video is gross and part of Dawson’s brand of “comedy” where he did blackface, said the N-word, harassed and terrorized Black creator Franchesca Ramsey, and joked about pedophilia. Dawson addressed past jokes in a video and he said that he is willing to “lose everything” in order to be held accountable for his actions.

Yet despite that, even now people are defending Dawson and making excuses for him while ignoring the fact that what he did help to create a toxic and hateful environment for a lot of Black creators.

Black people have had to deal with Youtube’s bullshit. While the platform constantly undercuts Black creators, it will make sure to highlight them for Black History Month and say, Black Lives Matter. Well, they didn’t matter when blackface was trending for them.

What’s more, is that fans of these creators are pretending as if the fault of this lies on BIPOC who called this stuff out for years.

Most of us were screaming into a void while these creators only grew in platform and fame.

Now that Black Lives Matter is profitable and popular, creators are going to pump-out these apologizes. Some might be sincere, but that can only be seen by their actions. They profited over the hypersexualization and defaming of Black people, especially Black Woman, now let’s see if they will protect them online, defend them online, and open up their purse to support Black causes. That’s the only kind of accountability that matters at this point.

(New Line Cinema)

(via Twitter, image: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for MTV)

  • Sacha Baron Cohen is being accused of trolling the far-right. This time by infiltrating a rally in Washington organized by the anti-government hate group, the Three Percenters. (via The Independent)
  • Rolling Stones are threatening to sue Trump over his use of their songs at his rallies despite multiple cease-and-desists. (via Yahoo)
  • The HBO docuseries “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” examines the drive of true crime hero Michelle McNamara. (via NBC)
  • Christina Aguilera shares that businessmen wanted to change her last name because it was too ethnic. (via USA Today)

Tomorrow is Monday. Again.

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Author
Princess Weekes
Princess (she/her-bisexual) is a Brooklyn born Megan Fox truther, who loves Sailor Moon, mythology, and diversity within sci-fi/fantasy. Still lives in Brooklyn with her over 500 Pokémon that she has Eevee trained into a mighty army. Team Zutara forever.

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