Oxygen Cancels ALL MY BABIES' MAMAS

The moment Oxygen announced they had put into production a special entitled ALL MY BABIES' MAMAS, controversy ignited. Today, the network informed Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org, one of those spearheading a campaign against the show, that they had, indeed, cancelled it.

"After multiple conversations with Oxygen Media executives, the company informed us via email that a decision was made to cancel All My Babies' Mamas late this afternoon. We thank Oxygen Media for taking this important step. The tremendous response from over 40,000 ColorOfChange.org members, coupled with national outrage from Black folks, sent a clear message that exploitative television shows like All My Babies' Mamas are unacceptable.

The airing of a Reality Show like All My Babies' Mamas would have reinforced many of the stereotypes about Black men and women that have power to influence public policy. Research shows that exploiting persistent racial stereotypes that marginalize Black Americans have real world consequences.

There is much more work to be done to bring about a significant cultural shift in the ways Black Americans are portrayed media. We applaud Sabrina Lamb for her contributions to this work. ColorOfChange will continue to address the broader cultural problems found in inaccurate and harmful media portrayals of Black Americans. Now, Oxygen Media has the responsibility to examine how this show was green lit and how it reflects the company's underlying values."

The special was to reveal "the complicated lives of one man, his children's mamas, and their army of children."

The Parent's Television Council also announced they were against the series last week, stating, "Every time we think that the television industry couldn't stoop any lower, sadly one of the networks steps forward to prove us wrong. This new project in development at Oxygen is grotesquely irresponsible and exploitive, and we urge the network to cease any further work on it immediately."

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