Many popular musicians are known for their shock value especially when it comes to the music videos that accompany their songs.
But there are some instances in which these videos go beyond shocking and actually get out of hand in real life.
Now a Japanese pop band just released perhaps the most offensive music video ever made.
It’s not a good look
A Japanese pop band called Mrs. Green Apple has now apologized after releasing their latest music video.
The controversial video was pulled after rightfully receiving major backlash for its depiction of Native Americans as monkeys.
The song, which was entitled Columbus, shows one of the band members dressed as Italian explorer Christopher Columbus while others dressed in monkey suits are seen in the background.
Other band members were dressed as French Emperor Napoleon and Beethoven, while the Beethoven character is seen holding a banana in one scene.
The dancing monkeys are depicted as goofy and primitive as they cart the band members around on rickshaws and salute the trio.
Then, the “monkeys” are taught how to ride a horse and how to play various musical instruments.
However, the offensive video was removed by the band’s record label, EMI Records, the very next day after it was released.
The song was originally slated to be part of Coca-Cola’s celebrity music campaign in Japan, but the company suspended all of its advertisements that featured Columbus.
Vocalist Ohmori apologized for the video and said that it was meant to portray a fictitious world where people from different eras could come together and celebrate.
“Regarding the appearance of humanoid apes, I initially had concerns that it might appear discriminatory, but there was absolutely no intention to anthropomorphize them. The concept was simply about depicting different eras of life enjoying a home party,” said Ohmori.
According to the official Mrs. Green Apple website, their songs have been played over 7.3 billion times on various music streaming services.
Apologies on top of apologies
The webzine Electric Bloom said EMI Records and the band’s management agency, Project-MGA, issued a joint statement apologizing for the video.
The statement read, “We apologize for the inconvenience caused to everyone. Our pre-release review was insufficient.”
“We will take utmost care in the future to ensure that such incidents do not recur and deliver works that everyone can enjoy,” it continued.
Because the video was so controversial, the band also canceled a scheduled appearance on the TBS show, CDTV Live!
The band also admitted in a separate apology that from the time they started making the video, they were “afraid that someone would see the appearance of monkeys in the video as discrimination, but we had no intention of comparing monkeys to humans.”
They also said they “did not want to offend anyone or affirm a tragic history.”
Mrs. Green Apple formed in 2013 and had a breakout hit when they wrote the theme song for the anime show Fire Force in 2015.
US Political Daily will keep you updated on any developments to this ongoing story.
