FRESNO, CA, USA—Joe Budden, an American rapper and member of the hip hop group Slaughterhouse, is receiving some social media attention, and it’s not because of his music.
On Friday, March 28, 2014, Twitter user Fateh Singh(@FatedDOE) posted a photo he came across on Budden’s Instagram account depicting a man wearing a turban and standing in an airport security line. Budden’s accompanying caption read, “Not on my watch Homeboy!”
Many Twitter users joined in the dialogue, expressing their anger over Budden’s photo.
@JoeBudden fails to understand that “stereotypical terrorist” jokes have gotten innocent Sikhs killed, post 9/11, purely off of ignorance — Raginder ‘Violinder’ (@Violinder) March 28, 2014
PLEASE RETWEET: Tell Rapper @JoeBudden: Posting a picture of Indian Sikh man insinuating he’s a terrorist is not cool! pic.twitter.com/tNzdne3tMA — Arsalan Iftikhar™ (@TheMuslimGuy) March 28, 2014
One user addressed Budden directly, challenging him to take a serious look at his actions.
@JoeBudden you are a human just like everyone else. Same blood runs in our veins. Your ancestors know about racism. Shouldn’t I know better? — Jaskaran Dhanoa (@JaskaranDhanoa) March 28, 2014
Budden and Dhanoa subsequently entered into a Twitter discussion.
@JoeBudden lighten up to a racist joke? Would you lighten up if I dropped the “N” word to you? Think about it, seriously. Read ur comments b — Jaskaran Dhanoa (@JaskaranDhanoa) March 28, 2014
@JoeBudden So that makes it OKAY to make racist jokes? Two wrongs don’t make a right Joe. C’mon man, you’re still defending your pic/cmnt? — Jaskaran Dhanoa (@JaskaranDhanoa) March 28, 2014
@JaskaranDhanoa I’m taking off, I’ll erase it cuz I like u, ok ?! Great. — Joe Budden (@JoeBudden) March 28, 2014
Budden’s response may fall short of what Reddit user “european_douchebag” did after posting a mocking photo of Ohio State student and observant Sikh Balpreet Kaur. The Redditor offered an apology, saying, “Making fun of people is funny to some but incredibly degrading to the people you’re making fun of. It was an incredibly rude, judgmental, and ignorant thing to post.”
Budden did, however, remove the post from his Instagram account, though the rapper’s publicist did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Joe Budden, an American rapper and member of the hip hop group Slaughterhouse, is receiving some social media attention, and it’s not because of his music.
I’d never heard of this guy before this article but I strongly dislike him already. What a low life.
He also full apologized to the community….@re-poster: way to fully report on the issue several days later.