Odd Future manager, Christian Clancy, has taken to tumblr recently to inform the public that no offense was intended in regards to the provocative Mountain Dew commercial curated by Tyler, The Creator but apologised for any offense that it caused. The embattled series of commercials has prompted a massive backlash since its release and has been pulled from broadcast.
Clancy was careful not to excuse the racial stereotyping used in the ads, but rather explained what went down. You can read the lengthy but thorough statement regarding his client below:
“It was never Tyler’s intention to offend however, offense is personal and valid to anyone who is offended. Out of respect to those that were offended and the ad was taken down. For those who know and respect Tyler he is known for pushing boundaries and challenging stereotypes thru humor. This is someone who grew up on David Chappelle. This situation is layered with context and is a discussion that Tyler would love to address in the right forum as he does have a point of view. As someone who hasn’t had the experience of being discriminated against I choose to respect the opinion of those who have… what I can speak to is Tyler who represents much more than the current narrative this story suggests. Contrary to what many may discern from this Tyler is the embodiment of not judging others, his delivery may not be for everyone (which is true for anyone who pushes boundaries) but his voice is nonetheless important to the conversation since his demographic understands what he ultimately stands for and sees the irony of it all. Context may or not help those who are offended and I wholly respect that, but for those who are interested I can offer the following and leave the rest to Tyler.
1. This spot was part of an overall admittedly absurd storyline about a crazy goat who becomes obsessed with Mountain Dew
2. The lady in front of the lineup is the waitress from the first spot.
3. The lineup consists of Tyler’s friends and Odd Future members who were available that day. (LBoy, Leftbrain, Garrett from Trash Talk and Errol)
4. He absolutely never intended to spark a controversy about race. It was simply an again admittedly absurd story that was never meant to be taken seriously.
Again we apologize if this was taken out of context and would never trivialize racism, especially now in America where voting and civil rights are being challenged at the highest level. I can however stand firmly by someone I have believed in since we met only because I know him and i know all of this was never his intent.”
