Akon Apologizes In Wake Of Simulated Sex Storm
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Singer, Akon, who was set to tour with Gwen Stefani, is now apologizing for his behavior during a concert in Trinidad recently. Â
The rapper/reggae star was performing on stage and invited women from the audience on stage for a “dance” competition, ostensibly to win a trip to Africa. The winner, 15-year old Danah Alleyne then had to compete against Akon which resulted in a disturbing visual as Ms. Alleyne was virtually raped (though clothed and in public) by Akon and then sandwiched by his entourage in a sexually charged display of aggression.  To make matters worse, there was no trip to Africa.
The Stefani/Akon tour was sponsored by Verizon, including a broad campaign of ads (including blogads on our network daddy, Blogcritics.org) but have since been cancelled and ads have been pulled, Verizon only gave “reasons” as the excuse for dropping out of the tour.
No word yet on whether anyone else will pick up the sponsorship spot for the tour. My guess is that Gwen will drop Akon entirely from the tour if she can do so legally. I would imagine this is what’s going on behind the scenes now and Gwen would be within her right to do so. Who the hell wants to be associated with that kind of ridiculousness? Here’s the statement Akon released:
 “First, and most important to me, I want to sincerely apologize for the embarrassment and any pain I’ve caused to the young woman who joined me on-stage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert in Port of Spain on April 12th. It was never my intention to embarrass or take advantage of my fans in any way, especially those under the age of 18. That is why we tried to make sure that the club did not admit anyone under 18 in the audience. Somehow, that standard was not met.
Again, I apologize to those concerned and to all my fans and I pledge to all that we will strive to make sure this type of incident does not happen again.”
Oh, I guess it’s okay to simulate rape/sex with people over 18? WTF?Â
Photo courtesy of Hollywoodgrind.com.
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Crazy!
Although fs someone 18+ did get up on the stage knowing what they were geting into (doesn’t sound liek it in this case, so strike two) that would be something different
Comment by Jason Meltzer Patterson — May 12, 2007 @ 10:05 am