Roddy Bottum’s MAN ON MAN single returns to YouTube after being wrongly removed for “sex and nudity”
Roddy Bottum of Faith No More, Imperial Teen, and CRICKETS formed a new duo, MAN ON MAN, with his partner Joey Holman. Their first single, "DADDY," is accompanied by a video of the two men embracing in briefs and sharing a banana, which you can watch below "There’s enough representation in the gay community of young, hairless pretty men," Roddy told Rolling Stone. "It feels good to represent a faction of our culture that isn’t squeaky and manicured. Based on the ageist and homophobic responses posted in the comments section of a straight publication that ran our photo, I’m happy to be those faces on the queer map."
YouTube removed the video, citing "our sex and nudity policy." (There is no nudity or sex in the video.) "It’s important to us that YouTube is a safe place for all," a note about the removal, obtained by Rolling Stone, reads. "If content breaks our rules, we remove it. Graphic sexual content that is meant to be sexually gratifying is not allowed on YouTube. Because it’s the first time, this is just a warning. If it happens again, your channel will get a strike and you won’t be able to do things like upload, post, or live stream for one week."
YouTube has since admitted they made a mistake and put the video back up. "With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call," a representative told Rolling Stone. "When it’s brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it. We also offer uploaders the ability to appeal removals and we will re-review the content."
MAN ON MAN, who uploaded the video to Vimeo in the mean time, responded, "It’s clear tech companies are lacking in representation and therefore discriminate against skin color, age, sex, and sexuality. Even if YouTube does value and promote diversity, the truth is, the industry is still playing by straight men’s rules. It’s devaluing when we see Google monopolize on our Pride but do so little to actually enhance and protect the LGBTQIA+ digital experience. We’re asking for an equitable playing field."