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GOP Poster Depicts De Blasio as Woman in 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

By Jeff Mays | February 17, 2015 5:14pm
 A new attack ad from the New York State GOP criticizes the relationship between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Rev. Al Sharpton by depicting the pair as the title characters in the new film "Fifty Shades of Grey."
A new attack ad from the New York State GOP criticizes the relationship between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Rev. Al Sharpton by depicting the pair as the title characters in the new film "Fifty Shades of Grey."
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New York State GOP

NEW YORK CITY — Ouch!

A new attack ad from the New York State GOP lashes out at the relationship between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Rev. Al Sharpton by depicting the pair as the title characters in the new film "Fifty Shades of Grey."

The doctored movie poster, titled "Fifty Shades of Bill," depicts de Blasio as the female protagonist of the film with Sharpton's face over that of the male protagonist.

"Tied up by his habitual tardiness; Dominated by the duties of his office; Handcuffed by his poor management of the NYPD," reads the subheading.

“The point is to depict Al Sharpton as someone who has an undue amount of control over the Mayor— and he does," said David Laska, a spokesman for the New York State GOP.

De Blasio's office did not respond to request for comment.

Kirsten John Foy, the regional director for Sharpton's National Action Network, said that the poster was offensive to those in the civil rights movement and to the LGBT community.

"Whether you are from the African American community, the LGBT community or you are just a movie buff you need to be offended," said Foy.

"It's absolutely going too far. It's offensive on so many levels. It's unprofessional. Whoever is responsible for it should be terminated and they should apologize to Rev. Sharpton and the mayor immediately," he added.

Laska said there's nothing to apologize about.

“The parallels between the heroine of America’s hottest movie and New York’s Mayor are striking: both have completely ceded control over their situation to outside forces, and the results are difficult to watch," said Laska.

De Blasio has said he speaks frequently with Sharpton who is the head of civil rights organization National Action Network and also hosts a politics cable show on MSNBC.

Rachel Noerdlinger, a former Sharpton aide, was hired as the chief of staff to de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray, whom the mayor has said is his most important and trusted adviser. Noerdlinger resigned after a series of revelations about her longtime boyfriend.

Sharpton and de Blasio's relationship came under scrutiny during de Blasio's first year as mayor, mainly from the city's police unions.

Some unions criticized de Blasio after he invited Sharpton to a City Hall round table following the death of Staten Island man Eric Garner. The mayor was flanked by Police Commissioner William Bratton on one side and Sharpton on the other.

Sharpton was critical of police at the meeting and said de Blasio's teenage son Dante would "be a candidate for a chokehold" if he were not the mayor's son.

"Sharpton gets to determine the direction of justice in this city," Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins said later at a press conference. "It's completely wrong."

But de Blasio was not the first mayor to invite Sharpton, who is also a close confidant of the White House on racial issues, to City Hall.

Michael Bloomberg also invited Sharpton to City Hall following the police shooting death of Sean Bell.

Foy said the idea that Sharpton has undue influence over the mayor should have lost steam when de Blasio did not address police and community relations in his recent State of the City address.

"The mayor is his own man, will always be his own man, and not a photoshopped woman," said Foy.