Nicki Minaj’s “Only” Director Explains Why He Refuses To Apologize For The Lyric Video

Although Nicki Minaj's latest single "Only" featuring Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown, earned Nicki her 56th hit on the Billboard Hot Hip-Hop/R&B charts, nothing but controversy clouded that accomplishment after the lyric video was released. Critics went crazy after viewing the visuals and seeing several Nazi-themed imagery throughout the video. Minaj apologized and denied her knowledge of the anti-semitic theme, but the public wasn't very accepting.

Despite recently admitting the images were all "representatives of Nazism" in a statement sent to Myspace, the video's director, Jeff Osborne refuses to apologize for his work because he believes the overall video isn't anti-semitic. Osborne says it's important for the younger generation to be reminded of what happened in the past so the same actions aren't repeated in the future. He takes full blame for adding the Nazi-themed imagery but confirms he isn't prejudice. Osborne recently spoke to Billboard to confirm the presence of Nazism in the video and explained why he's not sorry for it

"The reason I'm not apologizing is because neither I nor the video are anti-semitic," says Osbourne. "I can't be sorry for something I'm being falsely accused of. The video represents Young Money as a generic totalitarian regime, which takes images and symbols from several countries and time periods, one of which is Nazism. As an artist I have two voids to fill. First, meeting the demands of the client and two, creatively applying my own voice where I can. The Young Money team came to me with a set of parameters in which they exactly stated -- something black and white, dark, ominous, with hints of imagery like Sin City or Metalocalypse."

You can read the rest of the statement here.

[Billboard]

Filed Under: Jeff Osborne, Nicki Minaj

Categories: News