Add this to your running list of things “WAP” can stand for: Weatherization Assistance Program. A clever Milwaukee County supervisor found that out last week as he was promoting the program, which helps low-income county residents by outfitting their homes to reduce energy use and utility costs. Ryan Clancy originally posted a meme ahead of October 30, National Weatherization Day, that read, “Weatherization Assistance Program: ‘There’s some holes in this house!’” over a screen grab of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion from the music video for their hit “WAP.” (Clancy was playing, of course, on the song’s iconic sample of “There’s some whores in this house.”) And we’ve got to admit it was pretty clever! Not all the citizens of Milwaukee County thought as much, though, so Clancy eventually took down the meme and added an apology to his post. “I’m deeply sorry that this added burdens of time and emotion to the exceptional staff that run this program, and I hope that nobody has mistaken my conduct for theirs,” he wrote.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the WAP itself asked Clancy to take down the meme. “What I was hoping to do was both to draw attention to a really good program phenomenally run by Black women here at the county while also trying to make reference to a song which, at its core, has to do with empowerment, reclaiming language, and destigmatization,” he told the paper. He added, “I was gutted that my attempt to do something good ended up hurting people. I’ll certainly proceed more carefully with something like that in the future.”
