'Her contingency plan was get arrested - she was big on doing it,' one of the music video directors says of what Erykah Badu had in mind when shedding her clothes off.
- March 31, 2010
AceShowbiz -
Erykah Badu takes a walk on Dallas street and puts her clothes off one by one before collapsing naked near the spot where John F. Kennedy was assassinated in a music video for her single "Window Seat". She could end up in jail for doing such thing without a permit from authorities.
"They definitely did not get a permit," Dallas Police Department Senior Corporal Janice Crowther told MTV. "To shoot that video they would have had to get a special events permit from the events office and it would have had to specify what type of filming they were doing, what subjects they would use and any traffic control they would need."
Director Coodie and Chike of Creative Control admitted the permit issue. Chike said, "What was crazy was the fact that ... it's a high tourist area, so there was patrol cars all day, and I [was hearing] sirens, looking up and seeing some kind of sherriff's car or something. -- So I was like, 'This is gonna be interesting.' Her contingency plan was get arrested - she was big on doing it."
But, the crew had prepared for the worst during the St. Patrick's Day filming. Coodie confessed, "We had bail money and everything." He added, "I think she [Erykah] really wanted to get arrested and even make a bigger message. You know what I'm saying?"
So far, there haven't been any charges filed against the singer. Officer Janice explained, "We need a witness to testify to prosecute a case, but people were probably so shocked, and it happened so fast, that we don't have any record of anyone calling 911. We have not had any witnesses come forth to press charges."
Had Badu been spotted by a police during the video shoot, she could have been arrested for a class A enhanced indecent exposure charge because there were children when the filming occured. She could be fined to a maximum of $4,000 and sentenced up to one year in jail, or both.
Despite those controversies, Coodie and Chike insisted they meant no harm with the clip. Coodie said, "She wanted to show expression. It was inspired by the Matt and Kim video [Lesson Learned]. She said when she watched that, she got teary-eyed. We needed to be free too. That was her whole thing. She hopes her video can inspire people as well."
