14 DAY TRIAL // Controversy usually sells but only in moderate amounts. An upcoming Oxygen reality series, “All My Babies’ Mamas” has generated such uproar online that the network might actually be forced to cancel it.
A pilot for the series emerged online late last year, as we also reported at the time. It did not sit well with all those who saw it, ABC News informs.
The series follows around Seattle rapper Shawty Lo (real name Carlos Walker) as he tries to make life bearable for his 11 kids from 10 different mothers, all of whom live under the same roof.
From the pilot, they seem to have some kind of system to cope with the chaos of everyday life but, as it happens, reality television would not be such a hit if it did not have some (more or less manufactured) drama.
A hint into that could be the nicknames of some of the women living with Shawty Lo, such as Jealous Baby Mama, Baby Mama from Hell and Shady Baby Mama, the aforementioned media outlet points out.
As it turns out, many people think that such a show would not only be demeaning to parents and children all over, but also extremely damaging for the latter, if exposed to it.
A petition on Change.org labels the new series “an attack not just on African-American parents and children but all parents and children” and urges Oxygen to immediately pull the plug on it because it’s a total disgrace.
Over 30,000 people agree, having already signed the petition.
The Parents Television Council is thinking along the same lines, calling it “grotesquely irresponsible and exploitative.”
“If Oxygen moves forward with the program, we will be contacting every corporate sponsor that buys advertising time on the Oxygen network to hold them accountable as well,” the PTC says.
As of now, Oxygen is yet to respond to the pleas coming from all sides to cancel the show.