Get Out star Lakeith Stanfield admits he was wrong to rap ‘fag’ and ‘gay s**t’
Lakeith Stanfield came to prominence in hit film Get Out (Frazer Harrison/Getty)
Lakeith Stanfield, who has starred in Get Out and Atlanta, has apologised after rapping about “gay s**t” and calling his audience “fag.”
Stanfield, who plays the main character in upcoming film Sorry to Bother You alongside Armie Hammer and Tessa Thompson – who played bisexual warrior Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok – posted the rap on Instagram earlier this week.
In the video, which he captioned “Offensive freestyle (not for the easily offended),” the actor rapped: “Boy, you’re dressed like trash / You a eight six / Take that choke chain back / That’s some gay s**t.”
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
Stanfield added: “Fag, I don’t really want to brag but I’m straight rich,” before ending the rap by telling viewers: “All these gay n***ers mad ’cause they hate this.”
In an interview with BuzzFeed News, the 26-year-old apologised for the rap, saying: “I realised the weight and scope of that word [‘fag’] and that it can be very hurtful to people.”
He continued: “I’m really disheartened by the fact that people are being affected by it, that people are feeling sad or anger or any of these negative feelings about the things I’ve done, because that wasn’t my intention at all, to hurt people.”
Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson at the 2018 MTV Movie And TV Awards (Kevin Winter/Getty)
Stanfield offered up his role as a gay man in Come Sunday as proof that he wasn’t anti-gay.
“There’s no way I could’ve gotten in touch with the feelings of that character if I had some sort of hate toward gay people,” he said, adding: “I do not whatsoever.”
The actor continued: “I’m a person that moves in love, and I’m concerned with everyone being able to tap into their universal freedom.
Terry Crews and Lakeith Stanfield at the 2018 BET Awards (Frederick M. Brown/Getty)
“And that’s what I’ve always been about. That means freedom of expression, freedom to love who you want to love, freedom to be.”
Stanfield also apologised on Twitter, explaining in what is now the only post on his account: “I assume characters that have different viewpoints and different views on life… some things my views are aligned with, and some things my views aren’t aligned with.
pic.twitter.com/G2PyWsFYOn
— Lakeith Stanfield (@lakeithlakeith) June 26, 2018
“This character that you’ve seen is a character I’m definitely not aligned with, and I definitely don’t believe those things.
“So I just want people to know, coming from me, that I’ve never been homophobic, I’ve never agreed with homophobic thought or hatred towards anyone, for that matter.
He added: “I apologise if I hurt anybody, sincerely. That wasn’t my intention.”
Lakeith Stanfield in front of a sign for his new film, Sorry to Bother You (Frazer Harrison/Getty)
Last year, PinkNews wrote an article explaining how to apologise for homophobia which highlighted the pitfalls of saying that you’re sorry “if” you’ve caused offence.
Earlier this month, Samuel L. Jackson was also criticised for an allegedly homophobic post in which he mocked several Republicans involved in the Trump administration and included a photo of “after-d**k mints,” a comedy product intended for use after oral sex.
