Rihanna 'Man Down' Controversy

A couple of months back, my oldest son was playing Rihanna's "Man Down" 24/7, and I asked him if she had a video. She didn't. But she does now, and it's quite a sensation. See Los Angeles Times, "Rihanna, BET defend 'Man Down' video":

Rihanna had a simple response Thursday for advocacy groups condemning her latest video: She's not anyone's parent.

The singer found herself in the center of controversy this week after the premiere of her latest video, "Man Down," on BET's "106 & Park" — a video she promised in a Twitter message would have a "very strong underlying message 4 girls like me."

It's that message — which shows her killing a man who has assaulted her — that has drawn the ire of three advocacy groups that work, in part, to combat violent imagery in media.

The Parents Television Council, Industry Ears and the Enough Is Enough Campaign joined to condemn the video and urge Viacom, BET's parent company, to pull it.

BET said Thursday that it had no intention of doing so.

In a statement, Paul Porter, co-founder of Industry Ears and a former music programmer for BET, described "Man Down" as "an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song. In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in prime time. Viacom's standards and practices department has reached another new low."

"If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop," Porter said, referring to the singer who pleaded guilty to assault in the 2009 beating of Rihanna, his then girlfriend. "Rihanna should not get a pass, and BET should know better."

The "Man Down" video, which has also been shown on Vevo, the YouTube music site, begins with the singer shooting a man as a crowd of bystanders flee. He is shown dead in a pool of blood. It then flashes back to the previous day, as the singer hangs out with friends, goes clubbing and on the way home is accosted in a dark alley by the same guy. It is implied that he sexually assaults her.

Representatives for Rihanna could not be reached for comment Thursday, but the singer took to Twitter to address the fallout.

Also at Baltimore Sun, "Rihanna's 'Man Down' Controversy Heats Up."

And check Rihanna on Twitter.

Added: At ABC News, "Rihanna Defends 'Man Down'; BET Stands by Video."

Linked at Zilla of the Resistance, "Parents: It's YOUR Job, Not Rihanna's To Be A Role Model For Your Kids!"

Plus, more at Pop Crush, "RIHANNA SPEAKS OUT ON ‘MAN DOWN’ CONTROVERSY."