Not many people seemed to find Rebel Wilson‘s police strippers bit all that amusing during Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. One of the leaders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, DeRay Mckesson, was chief among those detractors.
“A lot of people have problem with the police, but I really hate police strippers,” Wilson said while wearing a “Fuck Tha Stripper Police” t-shirt. “You guys know what I’m talking about. They come to your house, you think you’re getting arrested, and you just get a lap dance that is usually uninspired!”
She continued her bit: “I hired police stripper for my grandma’s 80th, and he wouldn’t even feel her up … I hate this injustice, hence the shirt.”
The attempted gag was a play on the title and chorus words from N.W.A.’s song “Fuck Tha Police,” which has seen a resurgence in popularity as of late thanks to hit biopic “Straight Outta Compton.” Unfortunately, according to Mckesson and others, the setup hit way too close to the reality of home.
Mckesson reminded Wilson that “police violence isn’t a joke,” and asked “When’s the last time you heard a Holocaust, Sandy Hook or Columbine joke at an awards show?”
He answered his own question: “Exactly.”
Here are Mckesson’s tweets:
.@RebelWilson/@MTV, police violence isn’t a joke, as the deaths of #TamirRice, #RekiaBoyd, #FreddieGray, #MikeBrown, & #MyaHall remind us.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 31, 2015
When’s the last time you heard a Holocaust, Sandy Hook, or Columbine joke at an awards show? Exactly. https://t.co/mBnjbra3QP — deray mckesson (@deray) August 31, 2015