The actress-activist says autism is no joke.
Rapper 50 Cent is currently receiving major criticism after writing an inappropriate response about autism to a Twitter follower who told 50 to "release the album or get shot again." The rapper replied with, "yeah just saw your picture fool you look autistic."
"I dont want no special ed kids on my time line follow some body else," he added later.
Actress Holly Robinson Peete, an autism activist, penned an open letter to 50 Cent after learning about his actions.
"Do you even know what autism is?," she wrote on the website for the non-profit Hollyrod Foundation. "And what exactly does 'autistic' look like? Do you know how wildly prevalent autism is? 1 in 88 have it. That’s 1 in 54 boys. Families suffer a social stigma you will never know. It is a financial and emotional drain for millions…"
Peete asks that he delete the offending tweets, which he did, but also tries to make 50 understand how his actions affect so many, especially when his platform is 6.8 million followers on Twitter alone.
"I hope you can see how what you might see as a benign insult — or not — was so randomly hurtful, immature and misinformed. Maybe you are naive or indifferent as to how many of your fans might be deeply and personally offended by your insult," she explains. "If you’ve read your mentions today I am sure you have felt the wrath of autism parents. We are no joke. Neither is autism. We are not about to let you attempt to make 'autistic' the new 'R-word' under our watch."
The actress then ends by introducing her 13-year-old son Rodney Peete, who is also autistic. "He is in special ed. He loves rap music and is a HUGE fan of yours. He’s a tremendous kid. He has to deal with so much trying to fit in. This isn’t helping."
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