Halsey Apologises On Twitter For Defending Probbo Mate Quavo’s Homophobia

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June 23, 2017

Openly queer pop singer Halsey has taken to Twitter to defend comments she made in a ‘Guardian‘ interview about homophobic rapper Quavo of hip hop trio Migos.

Quavo has been in the shit since his band spoke to ‘Rolling Stone‘ in February, disparaging iLoveMakonnen‘s authenticity as an artist after he came out as gay, given “he first came out talking about trapping and selling Molly, doing all that“. This was couched in the ever-reassuring: “We ain’t saying it’s nothing wrong with the gays.”

Then Migos issued an apology “if we offended anyone“, saying they “love all people, gay or straight“.

And in March, the case was closed as Quavo told ‘Billboard‘ he had collaborated with Frank Ocean, which meant he couldn’t be seen as homophobic.

Halsey collaborated with Quavo on the song ‘Lie’ on her album ‘hopeless fountain kingdom‘, released earlier this year. She was asked in the ‘Guardian‘ interview about how Quavo and his previous comments sit with her reputation as an artist with a social conscience.

She responded, deferring responsibility:

“I think he’s misunderstood. Just because I choose to be a socially conscious artist, and I’m pretty good at it, that doesn’t mean every artist is going to be equipped to be politically correct. I don’t think he’s inherently homophobic, I think he’s in a tough place of trying to explain what he means. I agree his apology was bullshit but I can’t police everybody.”

But that comment, and a subsequent comment calling Iggy Azalea a “fucking moron”, started a backlash of its own, the hashtag #HalseyIsOverParty trending on Twitter.

Here’s Halsey’s fairly considered response, even if it is still a bit of a non-apology:

Honestly? I didn’t know that Quavo had made homophobic comments when I collaborated him. We’ve never spoken a word to each other and +

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

+ I have no intention of pursuing a friendship there, unless he wants to make a legitimate apology.

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

I work tirelessly to represent & support marginalized communities I love & am a part of. I’m sorry if my actions have ever seemed otherwise.

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

I only meant to say that people can struggle being socially conscious if they don’t have the information/vocabulary. So we must educate them

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

And I’m proud to watch the young people around me work hard to educate themselves and others to stay woke every day.

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017

I think thats an important point. I AM queer & I TRY to be understanding & want people to be educated. But im truly sorry for my misjudgment https://t.co/ESomRyiyBh

— h (@halsey) June 23, 2017