By: Tyra Mills

TV personalities Mimi Faust and Nikko Smith, who are featured on VH1’s reality series, “Love and Hip Hop NY,” sent Twitter accounts into a frenzy across the country when their “homemade” sex tape dropped online last week.

There has been a mixed reaction to sex tapes in the celebrity world. Some fans are disgusted and some pass no judgment, while others applaud the tapes for the entertainment.

Personally, I try not to pass judgment on others, especially those who are adults and fully capable of knowing what is right and wrong.

But do people realize the consequences of sex tapes? Do people even care about those consequences? Has the price of fame changed to just an hour-long video of your intimate moments.

There have been numerous celebrities with sex tapes, including socialite Paris Hilton and, of course, reality TV star Kim Kardashian.    

Mimi’s fans seem more concerned with the acrobatics she’s doing in the video than the actual video itself. Regardless of why she chose to release this tape, it is definitely helping her not only keep a spot on the show but also attain more relevance.

What other possible reason could a businesswoman and full-time mother such as Mimi have for acquiring this permanent stain on her reputation? It just goes to show that people will really sell their souls for fame.

It does get the job done, though. After all, who would Kim Kardashian be without her sex-tape scandal? Of course people always claim that these tapes were “leaked,” but that’s just an excuse. As soon as you see a cameraman lurking in your bedroom, you know exactly what you’re getting into.

The public is growing more and more desensitized to things that should shock us. There are so many outlandish stories surfacing not only about celebrities but also about average, “everyday” people; crazy almost seems normal.

Unfortunately for Mimi, whether people were shocked or supportive, this tape is something that will hinder her for the rest of her life. Love and Hip Hop won’t be cutting her checks when she’s trying to retire or trying to send her daughter to college.

This action has not only hurt her public reputation but also her daughter’s. She made a permanent mistake for fifteen minutes of fame, and when that “fame” clock stops ticking, she’ll realize that sex tapes are like energy drinks: it’s great in the moment, but there’s a horrible crash after.