December 19 [10:00 EDT] -- High profile feminists Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, anti-rap lyrics crusader C. DeLores Tucker, and actress-singer Melba Moore were among a dozen or more women protesting The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" at the Time-Warner headquarters in New York on Thursday.
The Prodigy records for Madonna's Maverick label, which is half-owned by Time-Warner. According to reports from AP and the L.A. Times, the women were turned away at the office of Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin but left a letter that called for the elimination of the song's offensive lyric. They carried hand-lettered signs with messages like "Sexism Is Music to Time Warner's Ears," and presented their own song, sung to the tune of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," that included the lyric "Beating up women is a big vice, Time Warner better beware."
Warner Bros. and Maverick issued a joint statement that said in part, "While the lyric in question was never intended to be harmful or disrespectful to women or any other group and we sincerely regret that it may have been misinterpreted, the possibility that some will be offended or disturbed by any creative work is a risk inherent in any artistic endeavor."
According to AP, Prodigy producer Liam Howlett said the title and refrain means "doing anything intensely, like being on stage -- going for extreme manic energy."
The band had previously issued a statement that noted that the line "Change my pitch up/Smack my bitch up," the song's only lyric, is a sample taken from the Ultramagnetic MCs track "Give The Drummer Some" and is not actually penned by the Prodigy. They strongly denounced violence against women in the statement.
