Iggy Azalea pulls out of Pittsburgh pride over past homophobic tweets

Iggy Azalea has cancelled her planned headline performance at Pittsburgh this weekend (June 13), after coming under fire for her past use of homophobic and racist language.

The Australian rapper had been scheduled to perform at the city’s Pride in the Street event on Saturday, but she and organisers faced a backlash from LGBT community groups and Pittsburgh’s City Council president and first openly gay elected official Bruce Kraus, who threatened to boycott the event if the Fancy hitmaker attended.

In the past, Azalea has posted tweets including: ‘When guys whisper in each others ears I always think its kinda homo’, and ‘Wondered why my butt felt like it was about to grow legs, flip me off & walk away. then I remembered i played soccer yestrdy w 5 dyke bitches’.

She has also been accused of racist language after previously tweeting: ‘When the relay starts, I’m a runaway slave-master’ and ‘Just saw 5 black men get arrested out the front of popeyes. #damn #stereotypes’.

The 25-year-old announced on Twitter yesterday that she will no longer perform at Pride, explaining her presence would “distract” from the event’s purpose and apologising for her past language, saying that “as a young person, I used words I should not have”.

She added: “I am sorry to anyone I have offended or disappointed & I wish all my fans and friends participating in Pride the best of luck.”

https://twitter.com/IGGYAZALEA/status/608061332676558848

The event’s organiser, The Delta Foundation – who previously defended their decision to book the star – also issued a statement in which they apologising for any “division” that the saga had caused.

“Pittsburgh Pride is about our community and allies coming together and showing how diverse and accepting we are as a city,” the group said.

“Over the years, we have seen many hearts and minds change including support for marriage equality, treating all with dignity and respect and most recently the support for Caitlyn Jenner.

“We’re sorry that our headliner choice caused a division within our community but we believe that change happens through conversation,” they said. “We are meeting with key LGBT leaders to start a discussion that will make our collective community even stronger.”

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