I wanted to share with you the following statement from Playboy’s Editorial Director, Chris Napolitano.
“Playboy has an impeccable history in dealing with civil rights issues. We didn’t have any ulterior motives when deciding on a headline for Mr. Whitlock’s excellent story. Even though we used the working title “The Black KKK” in our assignment letter to Whitlock on February 7, I was not made aware of his displeasure until a month after we had gone to press. (For the record, Whitlock misquotes the subhead to the story. It actually reads, “Thug life is killing black America. It’s time to do something about it.”) From the beginning, our idea was not to stir divisiveness but to stir debate. I still believe the title, presentation and planned publicity campaign are appropriate and accurately reflect the points in the article expressed in its introductory paragraph and throughout. I feel that most people who read his brilliant cultural commentary will regard it as a powerful indictment of the root causes of violence and despair devastating our cities and suburbs.”
Thanks,
Phil
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Phil DiIanni
Public Relations Director - Publishing
Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
SHEPHERD EXPRESS NOTE:
Here is a link to the ExpressMilwaukee.com blog post that solicited this response from Playboy.
