Rick Ross has officially apologised after coming under fire for lyrics about drugging and raping a woman in his song O.U.E.N.O. The rapper caused an outrage with the lyric, ‘Put molly all in her champagne, She ain’t even know it, I took her home and I enjoyed that, She ain’t even know it’, with molly being another term for MDMA.
Ross issued the following apology:
Before I am an artist, I am a father, a son, and a brother to some of the most cherished women in the world. So for me to suggest in any way that harm and violation be brought to a woman is one of my biggest mistakes and regrets. As an artist, one of the most liberating things is being able to paint pictures with my words. But with that comes a great responsibility. And most recently, my choice of words was not only offensive, it does not reflect my true heart. And for this, I apologize. To every woman that has felt the sting of abuse, I apologize. I recognize that as an artist I have a voice and with that, the power of influence. To the young men who listen to my music, please know that using a substance to rob a woman of her right to make a choice is not only a crime, it’s wrong and I do not encourage it. To my fans, I also apologize if I have disappointed you. I can only hope that this sparks a healthy dialogue and that I can contribute to it.
Ross had issued a kinda-sorta apology last week on Twitter, saying “I don’t condone rape. Apologies for the lyric interpreted as rape”. That wasn’t good enough for various women’s rights groups, who urged radio stations to ban the song from airplay and collected over 50,000 signatures on a petition to Reebok, urging the shoe company to drop its sponsorship of Ross.
Reebok did exactly that and released a statement saying, “While we do not believe that Rick Ross condones sexual assault, we are very disappointed he has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue or an appropriate level of remorse”.
We guess it really is all about the Benjamins.
I dont condone rape.Apologies for the #lyric interpreted as rape. #BOSS
— Mastermind (@rickyrozay) April 4, 2013
