Rapper Ne-Yo is walking back an apology supposedly published by his “publicist” after the woke mob attacked him for calling out parents who allow their children to choose their gender.
The musician made the initial comments during an appearance on VladTV with Gloria Velez.
“Parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is,” Ne-Yo said. “It’s like, okay, if your little boy comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl.’ And you just let him rock with that? You just let — he’s five.”
“If you let this five-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he’s going to do that,” he added. “Like when did it become a good idea to let a five-year-old, let a six-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for they self? When did that happen? Like, I don’t understand that — I don’t get that.”
Ne-Yo blasts parents who let their children believe that they can pick whatever gender they want to be: “I feel like the parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes up to you and says, ‘Daddy I wanna be a girl,’ you just let him rock with… pic.twitter.com/JRdn7VGZDI
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 6, 2023
Ne-Yo initially defended his comments — but later walked them back in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“After much reflection, I’d like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender identity,” the statement read. “I’ve always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the LGBTQI+ community, so I understand how my comments could’ve been interpreted as insensitive and offensive.”
I’d like to express my deepest apologies… pic.twitter.com/M5aTFN40tn
— NE-YO (@NeYoCompound) August 7, 2023
Critics immediately excoriated Ne-Yo for caving to the left, with many pointing out that apologizing to the woke mob was useless because they were still going to attack him no matter what he said.
However, Ne-Yo has since rescinded his apology, posting a video of himself speaking directly to his fans about the controversy — while claiming that the apology was actually written by his publicist.
“Listen, I normally don’t give too much of a d—mn about what y’all think about what I do — what y’all have to say about what I say or whatever… Like I said, opinions ain’t special, everybody got one. However, this is something I feel very strongly on — and I need y’all to hear this from the horse’s mouth, not the publicist’s computer,” he began.
“First and foremost, I did not apologize for having an opinion on this matter,” Ne-Yo continued. “I’m a 43 year old heterosexual man raising five boys and two girls, okay? That’s my reality. Now, if my opinion offended somebody, yeah, sure — I apologize for you being offended because that wasn’t my intention. My intention is never to offend anybody. However, I’m entitled to feel how I feel — I’m absolutely entitled to feel how I feel the same way you are entitled to feel how you feel.”
“I ain’t asked nobody to follow me, I ain’t asked nobody to agree with me,” he added. “I was asked a question and I answered the d—mn question, okay? I have no beef with the LBGTQIA+ community whatsoever. I got no beef with y’all, do whatever the hell it is you want to do. Do what you want to do with your kids. However, somebody asked my opinion on this matter, and this is how I feel, I will never be okay with allowing a child to make a decision that detrimental to their life. I will never be okay with that.”
“If I get canceled for this, then you know what, maybe this is a world where they don’t need a Ne-Yo no more,” the rapper concluded. “And I ain’t got no problem with that. I’m a hustler, all right, and I’ll figure it out. I got kids to raise and I’m gonna do that regardless.”
BREAKING: @NeYoCompound defends his statements on transitioning children. “I will never be okay with allowing a child to make a decision that detrimental to their life.” pic.twitter.com/1VW2vMgEcE
— Amala Ekpunobi (@amalaekpunobi) August 7, 2023
