Lil Nas X claps back at critics for BET kiss, reminds homosexuality existed in African culture
The rapper was hit with homophobia, with many calling the Lil Nas X performance "too feminine" and accusing him of being "insecure in his sexuality."
Out and proud gay rapper Lil Nas X is clapping back. After his controversial same-sex kiss at the recent 2021 BET Awards, the MC took to Twitter directly to defend himself, reminding people that homosexuality has always existed in African culture.
As theGrio previously reported, Lil Nas X made huge headlines with his standout performance of “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” at the BET Awards Sunday night. Featuring sexual choreography, references to late legend Michael Jackson‘s “Remember the Time” and ending with a shocking kiss with a male dancer, the musical moment is still being talked about on social media.
While many have praised the openly gay artist for being true to himself and bringing much-needed LGBTQ+ representation to the BET stage, some have been criticizing the rapper, often with homophobic remarks.
Some users immediately began criticizing Nas X’s performance, referring to it as “too feminine” — even as a gay man. The rapper hit back with a joke tweet, writing, “wearing traditional male clothing and using lebron memes will not help you make straight friends bro give it up.”
He continued to clap back at his critics, implying that their intense outrage says way more about them than him. Nas X wrote: “y’all hate yourselves so much. y’all live your lives trying your best to appease straight ppl. y’all are uncomfortable with what i do because y’all are afraid they will be uncomfortable with you. work on yourselves, i love who i am and whatever i decide to do. get there.”
Some users even told Lil Nas X to “stop using African culture” in his performances. He decided to give those critics a little history lesson in his response, writing, “y’all really like to pretend homosexuality didn’t exist in african culture.”
While he defended himself, hundreds of negative comments continued to flood his Twitter account, with some going to the lengths of claiming Nas X’s “insecurity in his sexuality” is the main issue.
He then opened up about his own journey, writing, “you’re right i am insecure about my sexuality. i still have a long way to go. i’ve never denied that. when you’re conditioned by society to hate yourself your entire life it takes a lot of unlearning. which is exactly why i do what i do.”
The rapper eventually stopped responding to the comments on Monday, ending with one last tweet thanking his supporters.
Wrote Nas: “it took me a lot of time to mentally prepare for this performance. while on stage i was trembling knowing that i was performing something like that in front of my straight peers. even during the performance i was having a hard time calming my nerves. thank you guys for the love.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast, “Dear Culture?” Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku. Download theGrio today!
