How Your Sister's Sexual Assault Can Lead to Fame and Fortune: The Antoine Dodson Story
There are many interesting ways to earn a living in our post-industrial economy. Like ranting on camera about your sister being nearly raped. That's what Antoine Dodson did—now he's got a Hot 100 Billboard single!
You of course remember Antoine Dodson: He's the Huntsville, Alabama guy whose flamboyant eloquence in a local news report about a stranger crawling into his sister's bed propelled him to Viral Video Stardom last month. And, as in a few other cases, Antoine's Viral Video Stardom isn't so much different than Real World Stardom, as detailed in the New York Times. He's got:
- A single that reached #3 on iTunes and is currently #89 on the Bill Board Hot 100 chart (courtesy of the autotuned Gregory Brothers remix)
- Numerous television appearances, an attorney, an official website, 80,000 Facebook fans.
- Catchphrases: "Hide Yo' Kids, Hide Yo' Wife," "We gon find you" (available on official merchandise!)
- The same uneasiness surrounding some famous black entertainers when they are funny in a certain kind of way. (Baratunde Thurston, the cofounder of the black politics Jack And Jill Politics, said of the video "People online seemed to be laughing at him and not with him (because he wasn't laughing), as Dodson fulfilled multiple stereotypes in one short news segment.")
Almost makes us think the worst part about the Jessi Slaughter saga was that she had bad management.
With the profits from the single (He's splitting 50-50 with the Gregory Brothers) and donations via Paypal, Antoine tells the Times he's got enough money to "move my family from the projects." Maybe he'll open up that salon he's been dreaming about. (Yes, Antoine is gay.) This is good, because that bed intruder is still at large. And now he's probably walking around wearing an official "Hide Yo' Kids, Hide Yo' Wife" shirt, just to fuck with us.