ASHANTI - ASHANTI WEBSITE PULLED AFTER PROTESTS

ASHANTI WEBSITE PULLED AFTER PROTESTS

LATEST: Executives at ASHANTI's record label have relented to pressure from civil rights leaders over a controversial news report on her website and removed it from the internet.
The website, made to promote her new single The Way That I Love You, greeted visitors with a news report about a fake murder spree.
The site's news report - which users can personalise by selecting a "weapon of choice" and "victim" - claims to be linked to Ashanti's revenge-themed music video for the single, in which the singer plays a woman who stabs her cheating boyfriend to death.
But the report caused concern among parents and religious heads, and dozens gathered outside the Los Angeles offices of her label Universal/Motown on Tuesday (10Jun08) to protest the site's content and demand it be taken down.
And their efforts have proved a success - the whole campaign has been pulled, with visitors being redirected to her official, non-offensive site, reports MTV.com.
A statement released by Universal/Motown bosses reads: "Following discussions with Ashanti, we have jointly decided to remove the TheWayThatILoveYou.com website that hosts the Gotchagram (fake report).
"Ashanti and her music have always been about self-empowerment and addressing the issues that are most meaningful to her. We stand by our artist and her creative choices."