The plot thickens…

So do you guys remember the music video I showed you the other day by J. Cole?  Well it seems that the schools involved with the video had no idea they were actually involved.  Well, let me correct myself here.  The people who “should have” known about the video had no idea the cheerleading squad or the marching band were going to be put in the video.  The people in charge of them decided to let the students participate because the producers of the video showed them a trailer of what the video would look like and the schools were promised they would only show up in the clean version of the video.  Oh yeah, there’s a clean version.  You can’t hear many of the words, but it’s the same video.  Check out of of it.

So it seems the schools are trying to get the unclean video pulled.  Umm, honestly I feel it might as well stay put.  The damage is done and the video has been seen almost 3 million times.  So just let it stay.  I just don’t see the point of pulling it now.  Yes, I still dislike how it makes our city look, but honestly what good will it do now?  Meh.  Maybe pulling it will save us some face but I really think the damage is done.  I truly blame J. Cole for being a wimp and not standing up for the city he says he loves.  He says he’s from the streets?  Umm, he grew up on the richer side of town.   Seriously.  The high school he went to is surrounded by historically old neighborhoods with cute cottage houses and tons of big houses that doctors and lawyers live in.  Yeah, those are some rough streets to live on for sure.

So anyway, there is a school going around the college involved and I am sure the high school involved as well.  I was able to get a copy of the letter and I’m going to post it here for you all to see.

“To: FSU Faculty, Staff and Students

From: James A. Anderson

Chancellor

Subject: FSU Cheerleaders in Music Video

In last Sunday’s edition of the Fayetteville Observer newspaper columnist Myron B. Pitts wrote an article about a Rap artist who recently put the city of Fayetteville in the spotlight. The rapper, J. Cole, is a graduate of Terry Sanford High School. His recent music video, “Who Dat” utilizes a cast of local folks including FSU Cheerleaders and the E.E. Smith High School Band. The article goes on to focus on the downtown locale where the video was shot. The article was rather straightforward and innocuous. It was the first time that I and others at FSU even knew that such a video had been shot.

In the past two days I have received emails from FSU alums and some personal friends who had viewed the video and they were outraged to say the least. While the video has both a clean and a dirty version it is the latter version that is extremely profane, raunchy, racist and sexist. Moreover, this version has become a YouTube sensation in a short period of time (over two and one-half million hits so far). The clean version only has 6000 hits. This video does not put FSU in a positive spotlight. As one alumnus wrote “I am surprised that anyone would allow the FSU brand to sink to such a low level”. The Cheerleaders wore outfits with the word Broncos on them and not FSU, however it is clear that they are FSU Cheerleaders.

I am writing to assure you that the university was unaware that this whole scenario was unfolding. After talking to several individuals we have learned that the FSU employee who directs the Cheerleaders gave them permission to participate in the video and to wear the Bronco uniforms. Her intention was to provide positive PR for the campus. She previewed a brief trailer (30 seconds) that was provided by the producer as did our General Counsel and the Athletic Director, but the trailer did not include the presentation of the Cheerleaders as they would appear in the full video. Moreover, they were led to believe that the Cheerleaders would be used in the clean video only. The administrators at E. E. Smith High School were led to believe the same thing.

I informed all three individuals that they exhibited poor judgment by not reviewing the entire video and by not getting a signed statement from the producer that FSU would only be used in the clean video. The Director of the Cheerleaders has accepted full responsibility for this debacle. A process does exist that would have precluded this from happening. All requests for marketing or advertising should be sent to the office of the Vice Chancellor for Advancement for approval, and in this case that did not happen.

It was naïve for anyone, including the Cheerleaders, to forget that the producers of videos, reality shows and the like want to create as much “shock value” as possible and they will do this at anyone’s expense. I assure the Bronco family that we will exhaust all tools to prevent a repeat occurrence of this type of scenario.

FSU has made great strides in the enhancement of its perception as a

21^st century university that is rooted in a great historical legacy. While no one incident can tarnish that image the reality is that some may use an incident like this one to infer that FSU is not in control of its destiny. Nothing is further from the truth. Our energies are solidly directed to greatness in the future. This too shall pass.

I sincerely apologize for any negative publicity that will result from the existence of this video. ”

I wish there was one person a finger could be pointed at, but in the end it fixes nothing.  I hope that this will just be a lesson for our city and schools and other cities and schools to really read contracts and/or get things in writing.  Meh.  Ok all, I’m off again.  Going to try to get some sewing done today for sure.  Feeling sick to the tummy, but going to try to push through it.  I hope to come back tonight, respond to comments and make a doll post finally.  Talk to you all then.  Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse