Verizon Drops Akon After Underage Scandal
Posted May 6, 2007 — in Music News
Verizon has pulled sponsorship from the Gwen Stefani tour and severed their partnership with her opener, Akon, after the artist was caught on tape dry humping a 15 year old during a recent show in Trinidad. Actually, that’s putting it a tad lightly. It looked more like dry raping. In Akon’s defense, it was an 18+ show and the young Pastor’s daughter had no place there to begin with. However, the young woman was under the impression that she was participating in a dance competition to win a “trip to Africa,” only to find out it was a sex contest, and Akon considers himself to be ‘Africa.’
The ‘dancing’ that was caught on tape and spread virally across the internet depicts Akon throwing the young woman into several lewd positions while essentially humping the hell out of her. It was very reminiscent of the Tara Reid video where Akon and cohort double team the ‘actress’ in a rather vulgar display…vulgar even for her. Actually, it is reminiscent of just about any Akon show footage, since his ‘dance contest’ is a regular feature at his concerts. I suppose no one from Verizon bothered to checking into this before putting him in all of their commercials and sponsoring his tour with Gwen.
Watch the video below (borders on NSFW)
Good for Verizon. Just another black eye for hip hop. Curious to know what Gwen Stefani’s camp has to say about this taking place on her tour.
Comment by Nate — May 6, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
what a jack ass
Comment by realmad — May 6, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
Damn…knew a band who tryed that but couldn’t get the sheep to stand still….
Comment by larry anderson — May 6, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
A guy I know absolutely loves Akon and was defending him saying how he wasn’t like other rappers, and he sang about his homeland, Africa. My friends and I just laughed at him, because obviously, ’smack that’ is about Africa. I wonder what he’d think of this.
Comment by melie — May 7, 2007 @ 7:25 am
*shaking head*
…and real acts get passed over. Nice.
Comment by Scott — May 7, 2007 @ 8:57 am
hey i agree with akon on this topic what is he supposed to be carding everyone he dances with up on stage? thats the clubs responsibility secondly doesnt look like the girl is complaining so she is just as much at fault there as anyone else…and thirdly what kinda pastors daughter goes to 18+ clubs…better be having a talk with her about that before pointing fingers at anyone
Tim
Comment by Tim — May 7, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
I don’t care how old the female is, what is going on is disgusting and degrading to women of any age. The fact that she IS 15 makes it so much worse and the girl is still a child so her lack of discernment for being there is really not a topic for discussion, IMO. What a pig this man is. I hope he spends years in jail for that kind of assault on a child.
Comment by annette — May 8, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Tim, so you’re saying everything he did was ok?
Comment by Scott — May 8, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
I think all of this is bullshit. The girl’s parents and the club owners should be held responsible. I mean seriously, like she really thought It was a dance contest. I bet she got caught by her parents and is trying to play it off that she thought she was taking part in a “dance contest”. She obviusly saw other women taking part in the “sex contest” and new exactly what she was getting into. Also she new she was not old enough to be there. My sympathy is for Akon.
Comment by Katie — May 8, 2007 @ 7:20 pm
It does not matter if this concert was for 18 years or older fans. Akon over-stepped his boundaries with this girl. If she was 20 years or older, he should not have done it. Just because he is a celebrity, does not mean a woman wants him to be humped by him. He has no class. I love hip-hop and I’m a supporter of hip-hop. But this I will not support and I no longer will support Akon. HE’S A PERVERT AND SHOULD BE JAILED FOR WHAT HE DID.
Comment by Black Diamond — May 9, 2007 @ 8:21 am
I go to clubs a lot. This type of dancing with females is a common ocurrance, and no one files charges after it happens.
Comment by Tyshawn — May 9, 2007 @ 9:11 am
The point is that the show was a 18 and over show… I also think that what he did was wrong. If anybody goes to any type of dance club they should know that is usually what happens.
Comment by Julius — May 9, 2007 @ 9:31 am
if any of you have ever been to a dancehall style club, very popular in places such as trinidad and jamaica, you would know that this form of dance is acceptable and excessively common….i think perhaps because it was a big name sponsor, it carried significant shock value and they got scared of the implications…..if you don’t beleive me about this, search “reggae dancehall” on youtube.com, i think this is just a case of cultural misunderstanding
Comment by Tom — May 9, 2007 @ 9:43 am
As salaamu alaikum wr wb,
I am glad that this happened….because it shows just how immoral society as a whole has become.
None of this would hapen if people would be less accepting of this type of behavior.
You never would see such behavior when society was morally conscious and did something about those who wanted to go against the grain.
I feel a bit bad for Akon, but he got what his right hand brought to him. If you make dumb decisions then dumb things happen to you.
The girl I am sure knew what she was getting into and she was actually holding on to Akon….she wrapped her arms around his neck and at no time tried to escape him or push him away, she fully participated and I think enjoyed it, but was embarrassed later…
The underage girl and her parents are responsible just as much as Akon. Akon should take responsibilty that he acted immorally, the girl should take responsibility for lying and being where she had no business being, her parents brought her the skimpy clothes and shoes and therefore aiding in her deception.
I dont feel that Akon should be charged with any crime. I do feel that he should learn from this mistake and not repeat it on any woman. That is something a married man should not be doing.
Comment by Amatullah — May 9, 2007 @ 12:54 pm
Whether or not the girl was of legal age what Akon did was totally distasteful and disrespectful to all women and the public in general. How an artist would stoop down so low for such a cheap act is unthinkable. But I guess that’s a result of bad education or non-education for you- standards are set so low that even most posters on this thread have at least not a single inch of decency in their body to find the act utterly revolting.
Comment by xxxriainxxx — May 9, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
Everyone who thins AKON was right, should think about their little sister or their young kind being 15teen and dealing with this.
AKON the dirt bag.
Comment by Chet — May 9, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
Was it degrading? Yes, was it his fault? NO. If he does this at ALl his concerts why is it a big deal now? The club should be held responsible for allowing a minor into the club. I don’t care if she looks 18, she should be held accountable for using maybe a fake ID or something. I don’t agree with what he did, but he should not be the only one that is in trouble for it.
Comment by Diana — May 10, 2007 @ 8:22 am
Age does not matter– this is just a showing of Akon’s true colors. The fact is, Akon is a dirtbag. I’d like to see him go to prison for this. If we as a society tolerate this kind of perverted, shameful, dirty behavior, what kind of message are we sending to our kids or to the world. America is better than that. We need to stand up to this kind of filth.
Comment by Roger — May 10, 2007 @ 8:29 pm
Damn shame. They both to blame for that one
Comment by Shayla — May 11, 2007 @ 9:06 am
[...] Ebony magazine pulled the rapper Ludacris from its June cover. Verizon dropped Akon after the underage sex scandal. Hip hop magazine ‘The Source’ has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Warner Music Group vice [...]
Pingback by Kings of A&R » music execs silent on the future of rap — May 12, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
I love Akon songs but after what I saw…. I feel a little dissapointed.
Comment by Marjs from Manila — May 13, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
she probably liked it…and i agrree with tom’s comment [may 9] if you watch dancehall videos right now on youtube they have stuff like this…i think everyone is making a big deal out of this…calm the hell down talking about little sisters and bs…it was wrong but i bet you if she was 18+ people wouldnt be saying all of these things that are going in one ear and out the other…
he’s from Saenegal and I’m from Sierra Leone, so even though we arent related by families, we’re related by being from the same WEST Africa and I’m going to still like him regardless…
everyone has their own opinions so dont try to lure people in by saying “what is that was your little sister?” because i’m a baby sister and if someone like sean paul [the jamaican one] were to do that to me…TRUST i would LOVE IT!
Comment by ms. mari- — May 14, 2007 @ 7:00 pm
she did like it!!! and look at her outfit! what 15 year old dresses like that? seriously stop making it a BIG DEAL…
Comment by ms. mari- — May 14, 2007 @ 7:04 pm
Well like all yall have said before, 15yr old girl in an 18+ club mmm did akon know?.. NO! I myself have not seen any 15yr old dress the way i seen her dressed!! Who bought the clothes? Why was she allowed out wearing that for having a pastor as her father? Why are things being done after the fact of the video coming out? If she was so violated why did she not go tell her parents or go to the proper authority? She is 15 yrs old she should know what is wrong and right and what to do about it!! I am a mother of three girls myself and let me tell you i would never buy clothes like that i will never let my kids hang out with other kids that dress like that and i will be damned if my kids ever lie to me!! though if this did happen to one of my kids i sure would not press charges, but for him to seek counsling for what he did and why he does it? and i would get my child the proper counsling also but the hell if they ever leave my eye sight AGAIN!!!!
Comment by mrs. davis — May 23, 2007 @ 8:40 pm
I think this is really silly! True enough, his actions are degrading to women, but there are alot of things that are degrading to women but nobody really trips off of them. Honestly, the way that some rappers talk about women come from women that they, and I, have met. Women that degrade THEMSELVES! If the shoe fits wear it! I don’t get offended by things that they say because I know for a fact they are not talking about me. And we have all seen sex scenes in movies 10 times worse than this Akon thing and you only have to be 17 to see a R rated movie. Kids will be kids, they sneak out and do some things they shouldn’t, we all have at one point in time, I think the whole thing is she just got caught and had to point the blame. It’s also the club’s fault, how did a minor get in? Yeah she looked older, but ID’s are necessary and if she used a fake one, then she gets in trouble too. But, Akon isn’t just exempt. Honestly, knowing how money hungry some women are, and how old young girls look these days, ID’s should’ve been checked again before he touched any of them. When will rappers and athletes learn that they have to be extra careful with what they do?!?!
Comment by EloQuent — June 6, 2007 @ 9:26 am
who the hell does he think he is?! He should be calm the hell down and not see women as some kind of easy buzz for his Massive EGO! Please!
Comment by Louise — June 13, 2007 @ 11:01 am
Why didn’t that girl do anything? was she liking what akon did to her? If that was me I would of been so embarrassed.
Comment by Tina — June 30, 2007 @ 9:06 am
Gosh that is one horny man. I would think he would have better manners than that. I mean almost doing the dirty half naked, infront of all your fans, with some stranger sounds pretty stupid. And worst of all since this is common, imagine what else he does.
Comment by Joanna — July 11, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
I have been to 2 Akon concerts and backstage once and he was actually a sweet person. Is what he did wrong yes but how did he know she was 15 NO. This will not make me stop listening to Akon. The girls parents need to take some responsibility for her actions as in why was she there and why was she dressed that way,
Comment by Jazzie — July 17, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
I think it’s the girls fault overall. Akon shouldn’t have done it but it’s not like she said stop and let me go. All she said was OH “MY GOD HAHAHAAAAA”! If i would of said such things when a guy was doing that to me that’s in no way telling him to stop. In other words i was having fun and enjoying myself. I bet if she would’ve done anything to stop him he would’ve backed off but nooooo! Plus on her myspace page she had that picture (the caption read “girls night out - best part”). She also had other demeaning pictures of herself naked. Don’t act innocent Danah you’re just a slut! Grow up and take the blame for your actions, Akon already did and it wasn’t even partially his fault.
Comment by tina — July 20, 2007 @ 8:14 pm
1st of all.. i think that the it it totally the clubs fault for not checking id’s correctly. Akon is not the bouncer.. he was just dancing with a fan that was supposly 18+… So it is not his fault.. i back him 100%.. its not our fault little hussy’s like her like to act like adult hussy’s… and a pastors daughter.. where the hell was he.. i thought they were strick.. obviulsy not…. so anyhow thats my opinion
Comment by Daniel — July 30, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
this is wrong on so many levels
shes only 15
i cannot believe akon did this and i no longer have any respect for him or his music
awful
just awful
Comment by emiemiemi — August 2, 2007 @ 7:46 pm
i think it is everyone’s fault. akon was not responsible, but his “dancing” was vulgar. guys that ppl respect should not “freak” with random 15 yr olds. or for that matter, anyone.
the girl was responsible, she knew what she was getting herself into.
the club either did not check her id or was fooled, meaning they were irresponsible.
the whole world is at fault, because i see things almost as bad as this at my school dances, and it’s “ok”
Comment by lalala — August 14, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
OPPS!! BSAUT HE HAS AWESOME MUSIC!! MY BADSS if you hate or love akon you should add me on msn
Comment by Chantel&Haylee — August 26, 2007 @ 9:37 pm
OPPPS!!….again…. but he has awesome music!!!
Comment by Chantel&Haylee — August 26, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
Different strokes for different folks here ppl, if someone wants to do the nasty on stage with a fan more power to him thats his choice, its also her parents choice to not realize what theyre daughter is getting herself into, or getting into herself. lol
Comment by Haiden — August 31, 2007 @ 10:15 am
This girl was a willing participant in this display. Perhaps this girls parents should have taught her right and wrong and known where their child was at the time. Akon can not be held to blame as the club did have an age limit, which she quite obviously violated. The only people that can be held accountable for this wrong doing would be the person that let this girl in the club, the girl herself and her parents for not keeping track of their minor child. Although not his fault, Akon has published a public apology taking blame since the club has failed to do so. Verizon has, however, lost many customers for their bad judgement on backing out and will continue to do so. Once you have agreed to something, you should stick with it, not back out because your afraid you might look bad. That was definately bad judgement on their part.
Comment by Heather — September 1, 2007 @ 9:19 am
UMMMM. i like how he just walks away? and dragged her across the floor. thats real cute akon haha wowwww
Comment by ashley — September 1, 2007 @ 11:24 am
she didnt even try 2 stop it
she laughed through the whole thing and
she liked it until her parents made her not like it
akon isnt security
Comment by ME — September 1, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
To be honest what Akon did was totally out of order due to the fact its disrespectful to anyone, male or female. Lets just face it though, the girl is an idiot and Akon didn’t know he was doing something wrong at the time, even though the Concert (an 18+ gig) venue should have thoroughly checked ID’s. She shouldn’t have gone to the gig in the first place, and she should have told her parents where she was going and they should have taken more care about what she was doing rather than pushing the blame on Akon. Might I also add that this girl doesn’t seem to be that bothered about being dry humped by Akon, she’s 15 an age which most of us know whats right and wrong especially in sex.
Akons issued a series of public apologies, even written a new song (which is actually boring as hell but at least he did it), I think its amazing that people still manage to push all the blame onto him and the fact hes just lying down and taking it (like she did) is also a little stupid…
The whole thing was a fiasco, but there have been worse things… Loads happen at Mansons gigs and Ozzy Osbourne chomped a bloody animals head off on stage… stop being so blind and blaming the artists
Comment by Elle — September 1, 2007 @ 11:57 pm
oh and by the way Chet, I’m sixteen and unlike this girl I am not a cretin, people our age do this all the time, we do have sex you know. If that happened to me for a start i would Stop him rather than grab hold of him and enjoy it, and since I’d seen others do it first I’d opt out of it… Like hell she thought it was a dance contest
Comment by Elle — September 2, 2007 @ 12:03 am
i think this is horrible. First of all, Akon should not be doing this kind of thing to anyone! Akon got what he deserved because the video is shown every where. Hopefully this will teach Akon a lesson not to do that to anyone. And, that girl also got her punishment for sneaking into that club. She has been shown as a skank. Personally, she deserves it.
Comment by no one — September 2, 2007 @ 10:16 am
That girl is the one at fault she went out and got a fake ID, so if she hadn’t had been whoreing around then this never would have happened. She did not have to get up on stage that was her choice. She could have pushed herself away from akon at any point, but she didn’t. You could hear her laughing, so she was having fun till her parents found out. Then she started screaming rape cause she was going to be in trouble, but come on, why would a pastor’s daughter’s be at a 18+ club, to pray? i seriously doubt it, she wanted the guys to think she was older. And thats what happened, she shouldn’t have gotten on the stage, just because Akon is black and a rapper doesn’t mean that he rapes young girls. She is at fault completly and she should be ashamed for trying to put this on Akon. Just from what i saw, akon kept his clothes on and his hands out in plain sight. So it was just dancing nothing else went on.
Comment by Stephanie — September 6, 2007 @ 11:47 am
I have to say, I agree with Tim on this. It is not degrading and offensive to women, not real women, because in order for this type of thing to take place, the women have to volunteer! Any woman with real respect for herself, would not volunteer to participate. This 15 year old girl, had no business in an “Adult” 18+ concert. I’m sure she had to lie to her parents to get there and she had to continue to lie to get in the club. Coming from a Christian home myself, I know that something like that is out of my league and I would have never gone to a Akon Concert because just from listening to his music, you know it can get NASTY. Don’t get me wrong, some of his songs are absolutely great, but others are very explicit. I don’t blame Akon because there were percautions taken and rules that were set…She had no business being there and it wasn’t like he pulled her up there and just did this to her…..SHE VOLUNTEERED!!! Regardless to what we think about hip hop and how outrageous rappers are and how degrading they are to women….this is not the same because she put herself in that situation and had no business there for many reasons. She just happened to get caught this time, but when you lie and play around with the devil (and I’m not calling Akon a devil at all), but other Christians will understand this…if you give the devil an inch; he will take a yard. She thought she was going to lie and deceive her parents and just have fun and she bought a shame on her whole family from that lie. Akon is just doing what he does, but he didn’t force her…..SHE VOLUNTEERED!!!
Comment by Leslie — September 8, 2007 @ 10:22 am
Hey I have only just heard about this video through akons new song BLAME IT ON ME. And i think yes this was the wrong thing to do and yes it is degrading to the girl involved, but for one thing she should clearly have realised that this was a sex contest and not a DANCE contest that is just stupid and she probly just said that to her dad to stop her getting into alot of trouble.
But i think AKON is innocent and he does try to keep clean unlike many other rap and rnb stars. Me and a friend were disscussing this topic earlier and think it was brave of AKON to release this new song basically telling everyone what happened at the club and that even tho it was not his fault he is willing to take the blame for his irresponsible actions….
Comment by Jack — September 17, 2007 @ 1:13 pm
i think she was just a desperate hoe. she shud asked for help. n akon ur just a desperate human being.
Comment by ??? — September 18, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
Wow, people don’t understand that she knew what was going to happen. Also, the women aren’t just put up there. They would have to accept it. Therefore, if they are 21 and don’t like it, their fault, they got themselves in the mess. What a bunch of idiots to think that Akon should be in trouble over this. I think it’s a bit weird that he did that on stage, but if he does it all the time, who cares. Also, it doesn’t downgrade women in any way. They are just having fun. If that’s not your idea of fun, then don’t do it. But, you shouldn’t judge those that do.
I just wanna end this with… That girl is totally at fault and just wanted the attention of telling her friends she was dry humped by Akon. Once her parents found out, then she tried to get out of it.
Comment by Sniperblackout — September 27, 2007 @ 10:45 am
Also, she screamed in enjoyment. That means she hates it by the way.
Wow… just wow!!!
Comment by Sniperblackout — September 27, 2007 @ 10:46 am
SHE IS LAUGHING, AND BEFORE THIS HAPPENED SHE WAS DANCING MUCH WORSE ALONE!! AS A FEMALE, I WOULD HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR IT, AND THANKFUL I GOT IT! LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME!!!!
Comment by SMITH — September 7, 2008 @ 8:11 pm
first of all, this bitch isn’t such a saint as she pretends to be. like others have said, what kind of a pastors daughter goes to an 18+ club when she’s 15? the whore knew wat was going on and that it was a “sex contest”. please, you can’t honestly defend the girl saying she believed it was to win a free trip to africa. And anyone who is a fan of akon or many other hip hop artists cannot pretend to think only innocently of them. wat a stupid whore.
Comment by gracieloowho — September 29, 2008 @ 10:53 pm