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Civil-rights activist criticizes Rebel Wilson for her VMAs cop costume and jokes

By Karen Butler
Actress Rebel Wilson arrives on the red carpet for the 32nd annual MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Aug. 30, 2015. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
Actress Rebel Wilson arrives on the red carpet for the 32nd annual MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Aug. 30, 2015. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- An American civil-rights activist is calling out Australian actress Rebel Wilson for joking about "problems with the police" at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony.

Wilson arrived onstage wearing a cop costume Sunday night to present the prize for Best Hip Hop Video.

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"Settle down. A lot of people have problems with the police," Wilson began.

"But I really hate police strippers," she added, ripping off her pants and jacket to reveal tiny bottoms and a shirt that read, "[Expletive] Tha Stripper Police. "They come to your house. You think you're getting arrested, and you just get a lap dance that is usually uninspired. I hired a police stripper for my Grandma's 80th [birthday,] and he wouldn't even feel her up.... I hate this injustice, hence the shirt."

".@RebelWilson/@MTV, police violence isn't a joke, as the deaths of #TamirRice, #RekiaBoyd, #FreddieGray, #MikeBrown, & #MyaHall remind us," civil-rights activist DeRay Mckesson tweeted. "If the police kill someone you love, would it be a funny joke, then?"

The New York Daily News said Mckesson is a member of the We The Protesters organization and has worked with Black Lives Matter, a group which calls for an end to police brutality against African-Americans.

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"When's the last time you heard a Holocaust, Sandy Hook, or Columbine joke at an awards show? Exactly," Mckesson added.

Wilson has not publicly responded to the criticism, but she did Tweet a photo of herself in the controversial T-shirt, laughing with Nicki Minaj backstage at the VMAs.

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