Early Thursday, Russell Simmons issued an apology for a parody Harriet Tubman “sex tape” video released hours earlier on his new All Def Digital YouTube channel.

Shock and anger over the video came swiftly from many who saw it before it was taken down – including, apparently, the NAACP.

Critics called the video a desecration to the legendary abolitionist’s memory.

Simmons, founder of the hip-hop label Def Jam, wrote a lengthy apology for the video on Globalgrind.com early Thursday. “In the whole history of Def Comedy Jam, I’ve never taken down a controversial comedian,” he wrote. “When my buddies from the NAACP called and asked me to take down the Harriet Tubman video from the All Def Digital YouTube channel and apologize, I agreed."