Stanfield giving an interview | Photo: YouTube/Film Courage
Actor Lakeith Stanfield, known for his roles in movies like Get Out and the FX series Atlanta, posted a video of himself rapping on Instagram. Many immediately took notice of the rap’s use of homophobic and gendered slurs.
Stanfield deleted the video, but not before someone re-uploaded it to Twitter.
Twitter user @_BayBey posted it on Friday (22 June) night.
‘So @lakeithlakeith from @AtlantaFX && @Sorry2BotherYou Though [sic] this “freestyle” (that you can clearly see him looking down & reading) was appropriate?!’ they wrote. ‘Lol ppl are truly Homophobic weirdos Lakeith Stanfield sis you played yourself.’
So @lakeithlakeith from @AtlantaFX && @Sorry2BotherYou Though this “freestyle” (that you can clearly see him looking down & reading) was appropriate?! Lol ppl are truly Homophobic weirdos Lakeith Stanfield sis you played yourself pic.twitter.com/5N5F7Nexs2
— Bre’on (@_BayBey) June 23, 2018
Some of the lines in the rap include ‘that’s some gay shit’, ‘fag’, and ‘all these gay n*ggas mad’.
The re-posted video also shows the original Instagram post. The caption read: ‘Offensive freestyle (not for the easily offended).’
@_BayBey continued the tweets.
I really do feel like Lakeith Stanfield did this lil homophobic rap because there’s 00000 buzz around his upcoming movie. Everyone knows the gays run the world so that was the smartest thing to do to create a buzz
— Bre’on (@_BayBey) June 23, 2018
The user implied it had to do with Stanfield’s upcoming movie, Sorry to Bother You, and an alleged lack of buzz.
‘Another one bites the dust’
People have taken to Twitter to express their criticism of and disappointment in Stanfield.
Many said they were ‘rooting’ for him and that they had ‘fake woke vibes’.
I was really rooting for Lakeith Stanfield pic.twitter.com/eWoPU0a54W
— pillsbury doughboy (@olmilkdudd) June 23, 2018
I started getting fake woke vibes from Lakeith Stanfield a few posts back and I tried to ignore it but pic.twitter.com/nl1AFEk8Ay
— Luke Elliott (@LukeElliottS) June 23, 2018
I love Lakeith Stanfield and tried to ignore his fake wokeness but he really uploaded a prewritten homophobic freestyle.. “not for the easily offended” nigga, are you serious? And his movie (sorry to bother you) drops in two weeks.
Another one bites the dust. Played himself. pic.twitter.com/1uRmuLmZ5A
— yoruba demoness (@oluwablk) June 23, 2018
Others don’t want Stanfield’s post to ruin their excitement for Sorry to Bother You and the rest of the film’s cast and crew.
i will NOT let lakeith stanfield’s stupid ass ruin sorry to bother you for me this movie is still gonna be fantastic and has such an unbelievably great cast aside from him and an awesome writer and director but we do not claim lakeith. NEXT CASE
— melanie (@heavydusk) June 23, 2018
Lakeith Stanfield really went out here, did a homophobic and woman hating freestyle, put it on Instagram, deleted it, and thinks we are gonna forget. I feel bad for the rest of the cast and crew of #SorryToBotherYou
— M (@angryvalkyries) June 23, 2018
Another user, @A_B_Allen, tweeted about the lack of intersectionality among ‘woke’ people.
This whole Lakeith Stanfield thing just reinforces a frustrating reality: 90% of the time “woke” people only care about being “woke” along the axis that personally affects them. They’re totally ready and willing throw other marginalized people under the bus.
— Andrew Boyd Allen (@A_B_Allen) June 23, 2018
‘90% of the time “woke” people only care about being “woke” along the axis that personally affects them,’ they wrote. ‘They’re totally ready and willing [to] throw other marginalized people under the bus.’
They continued, discussing the lack of support for trans people or TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminism) among white feminists.
Everyone does this, too. This is the root of White Feminism, it’s the main mantra of TERF’s. People will decry the prejudices folks have against people like them then spin around and use that same crusty ass logic against other marginalized groups.
— Andrew Boyd Allen (@A_B_Allen) June 23, 2018
Stanfield has not responded to the criticisms. Sorry to Bother You comes out on 6 July.
