joe budden

Just a day after former Joe Budden Podcast Network host Olivia Dope accused the network’s namesake of sexual harassment, Budden himself has responded, saying he takes accountability and apologizes. Dope left Budden’s podcast network after he made lewd comments toward her while taping her show See, the Thing Is…, just months after the show’s launch in October of 2020. She explained why she left in an Instagram video detailing the comments and calling the experience “embarrassing” and “traumatizing.”

According to Rolling Stone, Budden has since issued a statement in which he addressed the power imbalance inherent to his sexual remarks as Olivia’s former boss, and claimed to support “all women’s rights to feel comfortable and protected in the workplace.”

You can read the full statement below.

As a podcaster, it is my job to address topics and create dialogue around them. During the conversation on the See, The Thing Is podcast I didn’t handle the topics with the sensitivity they deserved. I recognize my words and power in that situation created an upsetting environment for Olivia. Upon reflection, both the network and I take accountability for this. I apologize sincerely to Olivia, her former co-hosts, our staff, and the public. In an effort to not further any trauma, the episode will be removed from all platforms. We support all women’s rights to feel comfortable and protected in the workplace. We fell short of that in this instance. We support Olivia in her quest to heal, applaud her for finding the strength to share her experience, and wish her the best in all her future endeavors. I am taking the time to listen and learn; we have already begun to make the necessary changes to ensure this is a safe environment for all moving forward. We at the network endeavor to continue to elevate Black women’s voices and create opportunities to have constructive conversations to impact change.

Rapper turned podcast personality Joe Budden has been at the center of a number of controversies involving his treatment of the employees and fellow hosts of his podcast network, and today, one of those hosts added fuel to the fire by revealing her reasons for resigning included sexual harassment on the part of Budden himself. Posting a 26-minute video to Instagram, Olivia Dope explained why she departed the See The Thing Is… podcast hosted by herself, Bridget Kelly, and Mandii B just a few months after the show launched in October of 2020.

Following the departure of Joe Budden Podcast co-hosts Rory and Mal after they disagreed with Budden’s profit-sharing practices, Olivia Dope shared her reasons for quitting her own show after less than four months online. “On January 18, 2021, Joe Budden sat in on a recording of the female-led podcast I was a part of and continuously made sexual, suggestive remarks to me that made me extremely uncomfortable as well as fearful of dampening the mood if I didn’t laugh along while he made those sexual remarks to me,” she explained. “Those moments not only live on the internet forever, it also forced me into the decision of quitting the podcast.”

Elaborating on the last effects of the encounter, she continued, “It was traumatizing, embarrassing and I’ve decided that I have to actually speak up because not only was it important for me to walk away from it, it also is important for me to speak up to let others know this probably wouldn’t be the best situation for you to enter into, working with this person.” She also recounted some of the comments Budden made, which were subsequently edited from the episode before it premiered, including Joe admitting he “been wanted to f*ck me since we’ve met.” There are also numerous hostile comments as well as more comments making sexual passes at her.

Budden, who’s been accused of domestic abuse by multiple former girlfriends, was able to turn his rap career into fodder for the successful podcast, which has bounced from Diddy’s Revolt to Spotify, and where he happily trolls his fellow rappers like Jay Electronica and Logic. Since the exits of his co-hosts, however, he’s said that the Joe Budden Podcast is “100,000% over.”

You can watch Olivia Dope’s full video above.