Lil Wayne's Super Bowl Ad Called "Racist" by Critics, But Is It?

Rapper is grilling out for George Washington in slightly controversial Apartments.com commercial

By Rebecca Macatee Feb 03, 2016 9:04 PMTags

You probably weren't expecting to see Lil Wayne and Jeff Goldblum starring in the same Super Bowl ad, but thanks to Apartments.com's "Moving Day #MovinOnUp" spot, they are!

Also in the mix is George Washington, or rather, an actor portraying the first president of the United States. The clip is set to The Jeffersons' catchy theme song, "Movin' On Up," and while this all seems innocent enough so far, it's causing some controversy already.

In the clip, Goldblum plays a "Silicon Valley Maverick" who is quite literally moving on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky. Sitting atop a grand piano, he rises higher and higher along the city skyline, with the view getting nicer all the way. At the very top of one city skyscraper, he finds George and Weezy (if you're somehow unfamiliar with The Jeffersons, those are the main characters names). There, the unlikely twosome are hanging out at a Super Bowl party on their posh rooftop. Lil Wayne tells Goldblum's character he's "flame-broilin' some burgers" for the big game, and the former POTUS lookalike notes he's also "grillin' some beans."

YouTube

There's an issue here, though. Per TMZ, some critics see Weezy cooking for George, a former slave owner, as being "low-key racist." A source close to the rapper, however, told TMZ the ad is "meant to be funny and not the least bit offensive."

The source added, per TMZ, the #MovinOnUp spot is supposed to be comedy, and "people need to calm down."

What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments.