Media Ethics: Angie Martinez interview with Akon sparks media debate
Big Black Love: Has Black America Outgrown Monogamy?
Mo'Nique did it. So did Ice T. Now Black Press Magazine has learned that Akon is the latest celebrity to admit to believing in open relationships and multiple partnerships.
Mo'Nique, the boisterous comedian who recently gave birth to twins, admitted to Essence magazine this spring that she and her husband enjoy an open marriage. Rapper Ice T, who appears naked with his wife on the cover of his new CD, Gangsta Rap, lists himself as a "Swinger" on his MySpace page. Now, R&B star Akon has admitted that he's brought his Senegalese lifestyle to America.
"I'm a polygamist," said Akon. "I will have as many wives as I can afford to have," he said. "It can work. My dad has four wives." At 5:45 into his interview with Angie Martinez on Hot 97 in New York, Akon admitted to having three wives.
As more and more Africans come to America and more African Americans visit Africa, some are now wondering if Black America's outgrown monogamy. Akon says yes.
"If I don't get a reality TV show out of this,something is wrong," he said during his interview. "I want to show people the other side. I want to show them there's nothing wrong with it."
The interview was taped by Martinez' station, Hot97, and distributed widely across the internet.
To most media professionals, the issue wasn't what Akon said or how Martinez got him to say it, but whether the station should have taken such pains to distribute the interview online. By doing so, the station appeared to exploit the artist and came dangerously close to crossing a media ethics line.
Black Press Magazine conducted exclusive interviews with marriage counselors, industry executives, Africans who are both for and against polygamy and others about the subject and you won't believe what we found out. View the full report on October 27 on MySpace.com/BlackPress.
