Jesse Jackson said he was pleased that the producers
of "Barbershop" have apologized for the film’s remarks about Rosa
Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and others, but said he is still pushing to have
the jokes cut from future DVD and video editions of the film.
“The producers and writers, we wanted one
individual in the shop saying something funny and we wanted everyone to disagree
with that person,” Tillman said in a statement. "I completely did
not mean to offend anyone."
Jackson acknowledged that the apology was "a
step in the right direction," but said that he will keep appealing to the
producers to have the remarks removed. The remarks make references to Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s alleged promiscuity and that Rosa Parks got credit for refusing
to give up her bus seat in the segregated south due to her connection to the
NAACP. There are also remarks aimed at Jackson.
Jackson said that Dr. King’s family were "highly
insulted" by the jokes and said that the filmmakers were turning "tragedy
into comedy."
“I think if they want to protest movies,
there are a lot of other movies to protest that do a lot more damage to the
black community,” director Malcolm Lee said. “There are strong images
and more egregious affronts to (blacks).”