"Social media is not just a place we 'go' anymore. It's a place we live, work, and play. That's why it's more crucial than ever to ensure that all people can safely access these spaces and freely express themselves without fear of retribution," Jenna Sherman, campaign director at UltraViolet
"Adriana Smith's family should have had a choice. Her mother was clear that she wanted to make the decision about whether her daughter's body should be kept on life support. But Georgia doctors and legislators failed Adriana and her family." said Arisha Hatch, interim executive director of UltraViolet
Shaunna Thomas, a co-founder of Ultraviolet, said in an interview on Friday that Spotify’s reversal was “shameful” and “disheartening.”
“There is no consequence for abusing women and they’re just affirming that in a really straightforward way,” she said. “They’ve decided that their bottom line is important.”
Ms. Thomas added that she agreed with the critique that Spotify had been problematic in narrowly targeting only specific black men, but the solution, she said, was “not to reverse the hateful conduct policy, but rather to expand it — to be comprehensive.”
“Women weren’t asking Spotify to play judge and jury,” she said. “We were just asking the company to stop promoting artists that have a documented history of physical and sexual abuse.”
On Monday, Executive Director Shaunna Thomas (who is white) penned an open letter to Spotify head Daniel Ek with the belief that their new public Hate Content and Hateful Conduct policy is a step in the right direction, particularly for black women.
“Your action demonstrates that Spotify is following the lead of Black women who demanded that these two men [R. Kelly and XXXTentacion], who have sexually and physically abused women for years, not be promoted and celebrated,” it reads.
And before you assume that the organization is only coming for black or black-adjacent artists and music, they’re also imploring Spotify to remove The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Don Henley of The Eagles, Ted Nugent and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. (Yea, they’re not playing).
Women’s advocacy group Ultraviolet is applauding Spotify’s new policy banning hate content and hateful conduct that has brought with it high profile removals of R. Kelly and XXXTentacion from curated playlists, but in an open letter published Monday (May 14) is also asking for more.
As well as R. Kelly and XXXTentacion, the letter written by Ultraviolet executive director Shaunna Thomas requests that Spotify take action against other artists who have been accused of sexual misconduct, including Chris Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nelly, Eminem and others.