The comedian posted a joke on his official Facebook page – the material (which is not new) attempted to compare dating a white girl (presumably Caucasian) and an African girl.
Basketmouth wrote:
White Girls:
1st Date: Coffee
2nd Date: Kiss
3rd Date: Sex
African Girls:
1st Date: Fast food
2nd Date: Hug
3rd Date: Chinese restaurant
4th Date: Kiss
5th Date: Attempted sex but failed
6th Date: Shopping
7th Date: Cinema, new phone, more shopping
8th Date: Attempted sex but failed
9th Date: RAPE!!!
Apparently, Basketmouth's fans didn't find it funny. With many calling him out, accusing him of supporting rape. Rape is a very sensitive topic in Nigeria; the fans accused him of his nonchalance over the topic.
On social networks Facebook and Twitter, the comedian received quite a number of responses, including from broadcaster Funmi Iyanda, journalist Tolu Ogunlesi, Esther Ijewere and other notable figures.
'I hope young men will resist the hideous advice by @basket_mouth to Rape! Jokes are stupid!', @blcompere wrote on Twitter.
'Would your joke be funny if your mother your sister, your aunt, your daughter had been raped? If you daughter or your sister had come home with blood running down her legs because some brute had seen her, not as a human being with feelings and a physical body that hurts and bleeds, but as a
vessel for his lust, his rage, his disrespect and his misogyny?', a Barbara Mhangami wrote on her blog.
'…Because boys and men are not being taught that rape is not a joke! We place the burden of being safe on girls but girls do not rape themselves and your joke legitimizes and reinforces the notion that raping a girl is ok!!! Rape is not trivial!', she
continued.
As the rebukes poured in, Basketmouth deleted the post and wrote an apology on his Facebook page. 'My people,
I have a daughter that I would give my life to protect, a wife that means the world to me, a mother that made me the man that I am and anything that is done for any woman is less than she deserves for the role they play in our lives.
I would never in a thousand lifetimes encourage rape, I broadcasted a joke that many clearly misunderstood and have found offensive and I sincerely apologize, the intention however was to highlight an unfortunate trend and the ridiculously flawed comparison between money & the worth of a woman.
So to all women, the ones that make our lives colorful, the ones we owe our lives..literally, our pride, our money choppers, the true stronger vessels, this is me, Bright Onyekwere Okpocha saying, I no dey crase to promote rape?
Accept my humble apologies if it was misunderstood, it wasn't meant that way by a long shot. One love', Basketmouth wrote.
The comedian has done right by tendering an apology but it seems not to have cushioned the blows still coming in as fans are still attacking him on social networks.
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