January 23, 2014
Is R&B Singer Ashanti's Tweet Anti-Gay?
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.
R&B songstress Ashanti, known for her 2002 hit "Foolish," is making headlines this week for a tweet that some have perceived as anti-gay, Gay Star News reports.
Ashanti, 33, was tweeting during a football game on Sunday and asked her 1.5 million followers if they want either the Seattle Seahawks or the San Francisco 49ers to win.
One Twitter user responded with, "Your flop single," which apparently didn't sit too well with the singer. Ashanti's latest single, "I Got It," features Rick Ross and was released in November.
"@kicksb4rent don't be mad at me cause u in the closet...Flop that ya lil b#tch lmao!" she wrote back.
Some Twitter users, however, took offense to Ashanti's retort.
"That was rude. Who are you to call someone gay?" one user asked, GSN points out. Another wrote, "girl really? A gay allegation. that still doesn't account for your flop single, boo."
"I am gay. I AM offended Being in the closet is not fun Or hilarious. People struggle with this #GayIsNotAJoke,"another user wrote. the Huffington Post points out. "[W]ow girl I never knew you [were] this classless smh," another tweeted.
"And...she just lost a fan," another Twitter user said.
Despite the controversial tweet, HuffPo reports that Ashanti has been a support of LGBT rights in the past. For the music video of her single "Never Should Have," the singer included an interracial same-sex couple, saying she thinks marriage equality is "wonderful."
"I think you should be able to marry who you love, regardless," she said.
Watch the videos for "Foolish," "I Got It," and "Never Should Have" below: