This petition is to stand in solidarity with Black Women in Music and to request platforms like BET (Black Entertainment Television) to not support abusive creators like Irv Gotti.

Please Watch This video: https://vimeo.com/749725664

In a world of Andrew Tate’s and other misogynist social media personalities, a relic of the hip-hop industry has remerged with his outdated” I made her” rhetoric. Irv Gotti has once again begun his predictable media rounds of calling out singer Ashanti for alleged slights against him and disloyalty to someone who has made her career. A Grammy-award winner, a writer, actress, author and philanthropist are just a few of the titles that Ashanti has earned throughout her hard-earned career. Yet, with one click of the upload button, the Drink Champs interview unleashed a media storm of controversy, victim blaming, and hate on a woman and artist who has always maintained her right not to speak on the topic.

Irv Gotti has been berating Ashanti in media since the early 2000s. It usually coincides with him crawling out from whatever rock he was living in an attempt to stay relevant in this socially conscious society. This culture of powerful men preying on younger women and taking credit for their careers is too common in the entertainment industry and community. Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the "Inclusion in the Recording Studio," reports that from the 700 top songs on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart between 2012 and 2018, 39% of women reported being stereotyped & sexualized, while another 39% reported being objectified while in the studio. Many of these details go underreported due to not having support or a voice; the culture of “shut up and take what you get” is being challenged. But this time, we have a powerful tool that has only grown over the years, social media. The pattern of predatory behaviour from Irv Gotti has only escalated with the heightened scrutiny of social media use. Most recently, in mid-2022,  Irv, a 52-year-old man, attempted to justify his approach to 11-year-old Shai Moss on social media, the daughter of hip hop artist Bow Wow. Although he reached out for business purposes, he did acknowledge that his attempt to reach her parents fell on deaf ears. Why attempt to circumvent her parents or business manager and reach out to a child? This type of behaviour was not ignored; he was called out by social media users prompting him to continue his tirade of defensive responses. 

The same tools and platforms used to tear women like Ashanti down and give a podium to vile and repulsive men like Irv Gotti are now being called out by its very foundation of users to be held accountable. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok have all been scrutinized by public opinion for allowing dangerously influential content to be given such a massive platform and audience. For example, at the time of his removal by Meta for violating policies “on dangerous organizations and individuals,” Tate's content had been viewed 12.5 billion times. This number shows that no matter how influential a person is, we, the user and consumers of this content, hold power to make sure it is not used to tear down women, shame victims, and allow predatory groomers to be embraced as cultural icons.

So here is your chance to make a change and stand up for female artists like Ashanti, who have been plagued by men in the industry who prey on young, impressionable artists.

Sign the petition and join the movement to request BET network and President Scott Mills to remove all programming and severe ties with Irv Gotti immediately.

For all inquiries email hertimeisnowonline@gmail.com