Stanfield acknowledges the criticism for his rap | Photo: YouTube/The Hollywood Reporter
Actor Lakeith Stanfield has addressed a video of himself performing a homophobic rap.
He posted the video on Instagram last week before deleting it not long after. Twitter user @_BayBey, however, then re-uploaded the original post.
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
People immediately began calling Stanfield out for the rap. They expressed disappointment in him and called him someone who practices ‘fake wokeness’.
Others also tweeted about the lack of intersectional support. Another user, @A_B_Allen, said that ‘”woke” people’ are ‘totally ready and willing [to] throw other marginalized people under the bus’.
‘I’m a person that moves in love’
This week, Stanfield posted another video of himself on Instagram. In it, he addresses the rap, saying it was a ‘character’ doing the rap.
‘I make videos all the time, which I usually end up deleting as soon as I make them,’ he says. ‘I assume characters that have different viewpoints and different views on life, and just from different perspectives.’
He further says sometimes he agrees with his various characters and other times he doesn’t. This character falls in the latter category.
‘Some things my views are in line with, and some things my views aren’t aligned with. And this character that you’ve seen is a character I’m definitely not in line with and I definitely don’t believe those things.’
Stanfield continues, saying he’s ‘never agreed with homophobic thought’.
‘I’ve never agreed with homophobic thought or hatred toward anyone for that matter. I’m a person that moves in love, and I wanna promote and continue to push that. Love for all people and all different types of love in every form it takes. I want people to have a clear understanding.’
Stanfield’s new movie, Sorry to Bother You, comes out next week.
