Recently there have been conflicting reports that the Oxygen network would be pulling Shawty Lo’s controversial reality special All My Babies’ Mamas from their network lineup before the show even hit the air.
Oxygen has now officially decided to cancel the special.
“As part of our development process, we have reviewed casting and decided not to move forward with the special,” an Oxygen spokesperson said in a statement to theGrio. “We will continue to develop compelling content that resonates with our young female viewers and drives the cultural conversation.”
The program was initially slated for release this spring as a one hour reality special on Oxygen TV. The show would follow Shawty Lo and his 11 children by ten different mothers. According to Oxygen, “Shawty Lo and his family were considered for the show, but other families were being considered as well.”
Teasers for All My Babies’ Mamas first came out in December 2012. The description in the show’s press release read, “As the household grows, sometimes so does the dysfunction, leaving the man of the house to split his affection multiple ways while trying to create order. Will there be a conflict over a family holiday, who needs school supplies and who holds the household finance purse strings, or can these feisty babies’ mamas band together and live peacefully as one family unit?”
The special immediately received intense scrutiny from media watchdog groups, saying it would portray a negative image of the African-American family and glorify the stigma of “the baby mama.”
Earlier this month, The Parents Television Council asked the network to not let the program air, calling it “grotesquely irresponsible and exploitive.” Their involvement came on the heels of Sabrina Lamb, a New York writer who started a petition cancel the show, which already has more than 37,000 supporters on Change.org.
“By pushing these degrading images, your company seeks to profit from the humiliation of girls and women and the blatant stereotyping of African-Americans,” Lamb wrote in the petition.
Yesterday Paul Porter a leader of the media think tank Industry Ears, who was also demanding for the show’s cancellation, told theGrio “we’re announcing victory.”
Porter noted that not only did Industry Ears collect signatures, but all major advertisers and corporate sponsors for the network were contacted.
“This show exploits children more directly than any other, and putting children in a mix like that is toxic,” he pointed out. “The good news is the project was really only in the development stages.”
Though Shawty Lo has not commented on the special, he recently spoke out to MTV News in support of his family’s living situation, saying he believes he is a good father to his children.
“I take care of all my kids…Outta all the 10 baby mamas, I just have problems outta one. That’s it,” he said.
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