Landon Barker, son of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, recently hosted a 21st birthday celebration in Malibu, Calif. Lavish birthday parties for celebrity children are pretty much commonplace, but the Barker’s party sparked controversy for other reasons.
A video was posted from the party showing servers carrying around bottles of baby oil with flashing lights inside of them, undeniably referencing the recent reports of police finding upwards of 1,000 bottles of baby oil inside of Diddy’s home when he was arrested on sex trafficking charges. The DJ at the party also reportedly announced, “We’re getting Diddy freaky tonight” to the crowd, a reference to what was known as Diddy’s “Freak-Off” parties, where much of his sexual exploitation occurred.
After facing backlash for the incredibly insensitive joke, Barker took to TikTok to explain his side of the story. Barker stated that he had no part in the baby oil joke, and he didn’t even realize it was happening.
“I didn’t pick up the bottle once, and I did not condone it. I just went to a club to celebrate my birthday and ended up in a bad situation,” said Barker in his video statement to disappointed fans.
The idea that anyone would think to make a joke out of such deplorable crimes is honestly beyond me. These jokes are not funny in the slightest, and they never will be. This is not just some crazy story, these are real people’s traumatic experiences. To turn it into a joke is unfathomable to me.
Whether it is true or not that Barker himself had no part in the baby oil joke, it doesn’t make it any less disgusting. Clearly, whoever was responsible for the planning and execution of such a joke thought that it was just a funny, lighthearted way to poke fun at a serious situation. Personally, though, I am not sure when sex trafficking and severe sexual abuses were ever funny, or things that should be joked about in any way.
The charges against Diddy, real name Sean Combs, are nothing short of sickening. He is being charged with multiple federal crimes for sex trafficking and racketeering, and is being additionally sued by more than a dozen individuals who have come forward accusing him of numerous sexual abuse crimes.
The idea that anyone would think to make a joke out of such deplorable crimes is honestly beyond me. These jokes are not funny in the slightest, and they never will be. This is not just some crazy story, these are real people’s traumatic experiences. To turn it into a joke is unfathomable to me.
I can understand dark humor and making jokes out of very uncomfortable or awkward situations as somewhat of a coping mechanism, but I also think there are some things that just cannot be joked about in a way that is anything less than entirely offensive and distasteful. The suffering of Combs’ victims is not something to be joked about in any way, shape or form. It is these very kinds of jokes that delegitimize victims and make them feel powerless in telling their stories, and for that I do not have any tolerance.
I hope that Barker was sincere in his statement that he did not have any intentions behind that joke, but I think that even if it was, the damage has already been done. The example has already been set that this is something that can be joked about. I hope that the backlash he has received for the events of his birthday party shows that Combs’ crimes are not something that should ever be spoken about as anything less than a serious and devastating crime.
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @landonasherbarker, Instagram
