@142: if #52 is not you, you must have a virtual copy of yourself that writes these kind of blog comments after midnight PDT. I have seen several statements similar to the last sentence on other popular blogs from a person posing (or being) Loic (or Loic LeMeur) (linking to Seesmic.com), including typos. Always made me wonder how you could afford to piss on your new home.

Black people should stop defending the use of the N word or any variation of it. It gives racists an excuse to insult you and humiliate you. I don’t hear Asians, Jews or Hispanics calling themselves ethnic slurs. I can see why it’s hard to give respect to people who call themselves Nigga in rap songs. I guarantee you that if this was directed toward Jews, it would be removed from the internet in 10 seconds flat and these assholes would never work in the valley or in hollywood again. Good riddance, jerk.

Definitely not Loic Lemeur, just a stupid troll.

@148: when i first saw this whole impersonation thing with Loic pop up in FF, my first thought was: “is this some kind of viral marketing thing for Disqus? A little thunderstorm that they are drumming up to prove the necessity of a cross site commenting ID?” And your comment adds to my suspicion.

NB: this is mostly in jest and i love disqus.

We love you Michael

We love you Lorne

Hear me hear me

Pick me pick me

Idiots.

I am a thirty year old black male, and I do not use the term “nigg@.” It is the wrong assumption that all black people accept the use of this word, this is NOT true. Many of us are quite angered and embarrassed how certain rappers and other entertainers have used this word. And there are rappers and entertainers that do not use the term, however, they unfortunately don’t get as much radio play. It is not ok for anyone to use this term.

I’ve noticed in this post that there was a reference to the Chapelle show. I for one, only watched the show to see why everyone thought it was so funny. Myself and many of my black friends and associates were embarrassed because of the content of the show and were happy once the show went off the air. Dave admitted himself that the reason why he didn’t want to go on with it was because he felt non-blacks were laughing at him, and not with him.

And in regards to the history of the term, it’s been used since we were slaves. It just didn’t pop up during 1980’s rap music.

WTF! I posted a parody Seesmic video comment (in the style of Loren Feldman…shirt off, lying in bed) and Loic and his team of monkey moderators canceled it!

Just a bunch of censorship loving fascists over at Seesmic…so much for me ever using that service again.

Wow Mike I see you’ve got in touch with the ethic side today. Good job on being transparent and good job on helping Loren get past this mistake. Now the next company hiring Loren will know his past …

Sorry, I meant “ethnic”. Also the sad part is that now that the world has embraced our culture, they’ve also embraced our negatives. People will always misunderstand some customs as ok b/c they see the people do it too. This is a mistake. Do not use the “n” word as a term of endearment. It is not!

This happens to a lot of people who make it on the Web by being controversial and then try to cross over to the mainstream but can’t because they’re too controversial.

Verizon was in the right. However, they should have told Loren to take it off and leave the video with Owen Thomas being a fat pig on there. I love that video. Owen is a fat fuck!!!!!!!!!

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/.....a_fat_pig/

Andrew Dice Clay lives

btw, yes, the video is racist, but so what? People make fun of people. That’s called comedy.

I don’t like this politically correct world that sanitizes all the humor out of everything.

If he had been mocking Christians or white guys or Paris-Hilton-type females, nobody would have minded.

Is it racist to say that black people need a thicker skin?

This is BS. He is not a racist. He is just doing what needs to be done to get ratings or pageviews. I support him, 100%. Just like I support personalities like Howard Stern who has often been misunderstood.

It would be much easier to believe that Verizon dumped him for not being funny, because he isn’t.

The 1938media/Verizon distribution deal didn’t make sense, anyway. I mean, Verizon customers are only looking for crappy gangsta rap ringtones–none of them would understand half of the 1938media content, anyway.

The only thing that I find offensive about the TechNigga clip is that Lo’Ren Feldma’n does a horrible job at being black. He’s more “Southern white hick” sounding than “ghetto tech rappa.com” - pathetically so. Borderline offensively, so. He needs to listen to some more 97.1 HOT FM or whatever the colored station is in his hood to get some acting inspiration.

Loren says he is a “professional comedian”. My asian arse. Eddie Murphy, Carlos Mencia, etc. are professional comedians…some worse than others in the case of Mencia. They know how to joke about race/ethnicity. There are some skilled white comedians that can do so too but their names escape me at the moment…tired.

Harry “would have pulled my own video and made a disclaimer page for it if anyone else hosted a copy just to try and keep my deal with a big player from falling apart” Wang

Live by the sword, die by the sword — or in this case cutting tongues.

@Richard Emory: I agree people are too sensitive.

However, Loren was using only the most negative stereotypes and stigmas associated with black folk. In the video, while being “black”, he smoked pot, drank booze, used Eubonics, used ficticious English words that his “black” persona thought was sophisticated, and only highlighted a topic that is illegal (pimping hos) - portraying blacks as criminals.

This has been done before but with better delivery, scenario, and/or timing. In those other instances, it is quite typically one a few of those things used together. He just threw it all out at once which made it offensive. The only person that could throw it all out there and get away with it would be a black comedian.

Harry “Loran lacks the tack” Wang

wouldn’t surprise me if someone helped organize the early stages of this protest…..

That’s the most ridiculous thing i ever heard of. I dont need help organizing any protest. I was alerted to this guy feldman who i had never heard of by a black blogger who was offended by the racist Technigga clip. And after viewing it I was outraged and contacted Verizon after learning he signed a deal with them . How hard was that?

Obviously Mr Feldman is airing his Confederate Christian Values !

Najee Ali

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Loren pushed the envelope and found the limits.

He hasn’t had the best couple of weeks. Cnet and now this.
He is still one of the few people on the web that make me laugh.

Fist of all I want to applaud Verizon Wireless for taking Feldman’s content off their network. Second I want to thank TechCrunch for reporting this story and giving everyone a say in the matter. And lastly I want to express praise to all the comments who understand why this was an issue that had to be discussed. The Power of the Point and Click works both ways. It can make you and in Felman’s case it can also break you.

Some people seem to have the odd notion that there is a difference between “telling racist jokes” and “being a racist”, as if “beating your wife” does not automatically make you a “wife-beater”.

The fact that Mr. Feldman enjoys having so many defenders is a sober reminder that the progress we have made in racial relations is not as significant as we’d like to think.

This whole episode is less about Mr. Feldman who apparently dislikes certain racial groups (I’m being polite), but more about the cushions provided by all these A-List Bloggers/racial apologists who are now making their sinister and formerly-closeted views out in the open.

shel, I know you said you had nothing to do with it, but…

It would have been so kick ass if u did

Gotta love irony

The video was unquestionably racist and Verizon took the appropriate action. Feldman himself admits the video crosses the line.

I find it interesting that you pull no punches and call it like it is in your coverage of Hulu and Yahoo’s troubles, but have taken such a soft line in your coverage of this. The unusually neutral tone of your post and the insulting question at the end gave me the definite impression that you support Feldman’s distasteful and offensive racism.

In any case, I am saddened by the ignorance reflected in many of the comments above.

If a black guy did “TechCracka” would the outcome be the same?

I say it’s karma for the way he treated Shel Israel. He has laid his bed and will lie in it. Keep your eyes open for cosmic interference in one of your affairs.

The sad thing is that if it was called “TechSpic” or “TechGook” it would have been overlooked.

Some of it was funny and some of it was just lame. Racist? Hmm… I’m not really sure what racism is anymore. But as posted above “if a black man made the video it wouldn’t be considered racist”, so… I’m gonna have to say Nope it’s not racist.

There are plenty of white, jewish people that make plenty of funny jokes about black people that are plainly not racist jokes.

This guy is not one of them. He straddles the fence between not funny and disrespectful.

Poor guy. Should have ran that bit by some people before he recorded it. He’d still be on Verizon payroll.

If he his racist tho, Frak him and his mom.

One word: karma.

This dude is an idiot. Stop writing stories about this mock company 1938 Media and the clown (not comedian) who runs it.

They’re using racism as an excuse to drop something they realized they never should have bought in the first place.

Seriously … it’s like ordering a shit sandwich, then sending it back because it’s lukewarm. The problem is not that it’s lukewarm. The problem is that it’s poo.

My video is not racist.

It’s not insulting an ETHNIC group, but a SOCIAL group, in this case: rappers/ganstas. I admit the video should’ve been titled differently, but the video itself is in no way racist. And neither am I. Did I mention I support Obama?… who happens to have used the most efficient web 2.0 staff ever in a presidential campaign! Thus yes, I know afro-americans are great bloggers. Geez, this was a joke, ok???

Would you consider Mencia or Chapelle making fun of rednecks racist? Rednecks are a social group, not a representation of Caucasians, are they?

Here, it’s the same: I make fun of a social group, not an ethnicity. And btw, Eminem belongs to this social group too, and he’s white, right? And the whole joke pimps/hoes was obviously in reference to snoop dog.

My only error - and i admit it - was the title, and I already apologized for it.

What else do you want from me, people?

@Loren Feldman :”What else do you want from me, people?”

Sincerity!

Not Oh Snap that didnt go as planned , it could have been anybody.

And i am apart of that Rapper social group and our sites are not like that!
Sites like Nah Right, Pro Hip Hop, and Oh Word are well written and not about pimps and hos. Even 50cents site is about more then that. Do your research!

Whats sad is that this didnt hit major radars sooner, just like last weeks hacker attacks on Urban sites went under reported. I saw not one mention on any of the top tech sites. when major money making sites get hit and go down because of hate and no one cares. It Concerns me that if it aint apart of the ass kissin Valley it dont matter.

I am not normally a fan Loren Feldman. I just don’t think he is that funny, but in this case I did think he had it going for him. It is Humour/comedy and that have a tendency to push the limits, and I am sure that it where what Loren indented here.

And as he himself is saying: ” It’s not insulting an ETHNIC group, but a SOCIAL group, in this case: rappers/ganstas.” I am in a complete agreement with him here, and have a hard time understanding where the racism comes in, or is it just the fact that a white man used the ”N-Word” and that where not social accepted? Well if that is the case then we are not talking about racism but just different standards of what people is ”Allowed” by the social norms to do, and as I said before it is the comedians job to push the limited of that social norm.

Wolke Snow (#56) is right on target.

It’s a brand issue for Verizon. Content was not in line with customer expectations for the V CAST service. And that is why they were so quick to remove 1938 Media.

This is also why Verizon’s video and content services will NOT be competitive in the long term. Sure they may be able to continue to generate a mediocre stream of revenue for V CAST, but once the mobile platform opens up (Android/LiMo), users will go directly to a site like 1938 Media to access this content. Verizon’s brand issues will ultimately limit the content they can present to consumers, thus making them less competitive in the long run. They need to function as a “dumb pipe” not as a content aggregator.

This is an economic decision. The cost of losing one subscriber (or potentially more) is more critical than keeping 1938 Media on deck. Offended subs will not cancel V CAST, but rather they will cancel their Verizon plans (data plans average out at $100/mo = $1200/year).

Too much risk from a Verizon perspective, and Loren has a track record of pushing the envelope. Why do I want to potentially increase my churn rate just to make a free speech statement.

This comment is to Jim# 9

You are as racist as Feldman is. I do not see anything funny
about that clip. It is stupid and ignorant. The funny thing about is, if
he is going to depict a “SOCIAL GROUP” he needs to get it right!!!
He did not know what the hell he was saying just a bunch of BS!!
Yes, for the comment “rejoice because you’re going to have a black pres”
just displays how ignorant you are!!!

it is kinda funny, but he went a tiny bit too far seriously.
but in a way i see nothingt too bad or too mean,

You know why this video is wrong on so many levels? Because it promotes stereotypes of one group of people that have yet to be corrected. No real black person sounds like that and not all black people smoke weed, drink alcohol or just perform illicit sex. It’s funny how other people groups can’t be classified or really stereotyped but all black people seem to be all the “same” to non-black people.

The comment above is not from me.

Ummm …. here’s the thing: that actually wasn’t very funny. I mean I see where he was trying to go with it and he had a pretty good premise too (I mean, Ho-Trackr? That’s just funny). But overall, the acting, the execution - it was kinda … bad. Anywho. As a black girl who loves a good racial joke, I don’t see anything offensive in this at all, but at the same time, I’m sure he would’ve pushed the envelope too far eventually. So who can blame Verizon for looking out for their own self interests? As a corporation, they’d pay a much bigger price to pay.

“It’s not insulting an ETHNIC group, but a SOCIAL group, in this case: rappers/ganstas.”

@ Nicki Brøchner: He actually started out by asking where are the “black” tech bloggers, not where are the “gangster” tech bloggers. If he was talking about a particular social group within a larger ethnic group then he should have stated as such. Should the artist’s intention trump the audience’s perception?

On another note, I’ll admit that when my friends and I make white jokes we tend to focus on the hillbillies/rednecks/hicks/trailer trash and apply the stereotype to all white people. Of course I know that all white people aren’t that way, but its funny. However, I know that there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed and I respect that. Until comedians/artists/shock jocks/talking heads understand this, then we’ll continue to have these flare-ups.

Wow, Annoyedviewer, you took the words right out of my mouth. I don’t tolerate use of that word from anyone, no matter what their race. I personally believe that the media perpetuates these stereotypes. The vast majority of black people (not just African Americans) do not use this word. However, just because a few ignorant people (some, not all, rappers and comedians) use it, then that somehow means that all black people tolerate the word. Stop all the generalizations about groups of people and grow up already. I live in a predominantly black neighborhood and I haven’t seen anyone condoning or performing any of the stereotypes that are shown on television and the internet. I guess it makes the media more money to focus on the negative rather than the positive attributes of the black community.

I GET SO SICK OF NON-BLACKS TALKING ABOUT “THAT’S NOT RACIST”

NOW IF IT WAS A BLACK DUDE WHO MADE FUN OF WHITE PEOPLE OR ANY BODY ELES FOR THAT MATTER THEY WOULD OF PUT THAT BLACK MAN ON FULL BLAST….

THEY WOULD OF WENT SO FAR AS TO TRY AND SUE HIM AND SEND HIM TO JAIL….NOW THAT A WHITE MAN OR A NON-BLACK GUY DID THIS CRAP…IT’S LIKE “OH, IT’S NOT THAT BAD”

WHAT EVER!

I’m a black dude, i dont think the word is right to use anyway, by anyone, white or black. I understand that my people say it to each other all the time, no problem. But as soon as someone white says it, theres a huge problem> and i think it all stems from the slavery days, and the oppression. But i think there are other words to describe black people rather than the “known” racial slurr that gets everybody in an uproar. The black community uses it and its not a problem, but we’re all coming from the same place, and we cant degrade each other because we’re all the same. This is a well known racial slurr and for anybody to use it playfully or not, its a controversial word to begin with. And unless you live in a hole, you know that this word causes friction for non-African americans. Which i think alot of black leaders are trying to take the word out of our community also, for the simple fact its not a nice word period. So if a non- african american person has to use this word, or feel the need to, please be on tv and not say it to anyones face, or in the comfort of your own home, because a can of whoop-ass will be in order… i’m not a violent person, but if you stoop so low to try to hurt a black persons feeling by calling them the “n” word, you are gonna have a fight on your hands. thats not a threat but its just the way it is. Black people dont like to be disrespected by anyone, anyway. if a guy calls another guy a punk or b*tch, thats a fight which leads to a shootout, and if a guy or girl calls another female a b*tch then an argument/fight is about to pop off. Open your mind people, any form of disrespect towards a black person, by a black or white person, ther are consequences. and we dont call the police…lol but just a heads up thats why we have so much crime in the black community, too many egos, getting bruised. but just watch your mouth, or look for that can…..just an fyi

peace

Bottom line its not a black or white thang, its a pride/ego thang…and yes i said thang. i’m well educated but just like to have fun with the english language. oh yeah and there is absolutely no difference in Nigga and Nigger…make note. i guess i’ll go get my chicken and watermelon now…lol since thats all we eat…lol