Ashanti on Twitter controversy: ‘I love the gays!’
By Josh Haggis
US R&B singer Ashanti has responded to the criticism surrounding her controversial tweet from earlier this week, but has yet to apologise for causing offence.
On January 19, the 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.
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.”
When asked by a US radio interviewer about the backlash the tweet attracted, Ashanti said: “Everyone knows I love the gays, the children. You know, they’re all part of my team, the hair and make-up, styling.
“You know, like, come on son, you’re reaching,” she continued. “That reach was incredible…sometimes you got to defend yourself. When you just coming out of leftfield with this negative thing to say, how about this little one, take this!”
> Ashanti: Fan backlash over potentially homophobic tweet
Watch the full interview below, where the singer also discusses her upcoming album Braveheart.
[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-B2zzNM-Qc[/youtube]