The rapper and director behind the music video featuring an NYPD detective twerking in a thong claimed in their first public comments since the song went viral that they had no idea during production that their “star” dancer was a member of New York’s Finest.
Pitch Perfect, who directed the raunchy video for rapper S-Quire, told TMZ in a Friday interview that the duo hired Melissa Mercado, a seven-year vet of the NYPD, from a casting agency and insisted the shoot was handled professionally.
“None of us were aware of … what her main profession was,” the director said.
The Long Island-based rapper’s song “Doin That” caused a stir this week when The Post and other news outlets identified Mercado as the scantily clad woman pole-dancing and twerking in the music video.
“I have no words,” an anonymous detective told The Post after watching the racy vid.
Pitch Perfect claimed to TMZ that the curvaceous cop, who works in the NYPD’s special victims’ unit, has become a sought-after dancer for other rap videos since her appearance in S-Quire’s song.
“Everyone loved this model,” the director said, with S-Quire agreeing, calling her a “beautiful woman.”
“I’ve had tons of artists reach out trying to get her in their video,” Pitch Perfect told the outlet, adding with a laugh, “If you look at it like that, it might be a great thing for her. I think she wins”
“She was one of the stars,” of the “Doin That” music video, the director added.
S-Quire was less apt at finding a silver lining, appearing more distressed by the media attention centering around the detective.
“You pray for stuff like this but not like this,” S-Quire told TMZ.
“After everything went down, I’m watching all of this and I’m seeing the narrative change,” S-Quire told TMZ somberly. “You know I have a family too. This lady has a family too.
“Yea, I love the fact that it went viral, but I don’t want to be known as the guy that went viral because she was a police officer,” he told the outlet, calling the whole situation “extremely unfortunate.”
By early Saturday, the “Doin That” vid had amassed over 1.6 million views, but S-Quire claimed that it had already hit the million-view mark prior to the massive exposure generated by the news about Mercado’s day job.
Neither of the men have spoken to Mercado since the shoot, but expressed their best wishes to the stop-and-frisky detective.
Pitch Perfect and S-Quire told TMZ that they will now make sure to ask any performers on their set whether they have another career
