Ashanti: Fan backlash over potentially homophobic tweet
By Josh Haggis
US R&B singer Ashanti has attracted a backlash from fans after tweeting a comment that could be construed as homophobic comment earlier this week (January 19).
The Only U singer replied: “don’t be mad at me cause u in the closet… Flop that ya lil b#itch lmao!” after a fan tweeted at her about the poor performance of her new single Woman You Love, which stalled at number 97 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
In response to the tweet, the same fan wrote: “I am gay. I AM offended Being in the closest is not fun Or hilarious. People struggle with this #GayIsNotAJoke”, while another fan responded saying: “Wow girl I never knew you were this classless smh.”
Ashanti promptly deleted the offensive tweet, but not before it spread across social media. A screengrab of the tweet appears at the top of this article.
> UPDATE: Ashanti has responded to the controversial tweet, saying: “Everyone knows I love the gays.”