Iggy Azalea has canceled her scheduled concert at Pittsburgh's Pride event this weekend after facing major backlash for alleged homophobic comments.
The Australian rapper will no longer headline the festival after a slew of past tweets were
uncovered by the LGBT community, E! Online reported.
The tweets in question span from possibly homophobic ("When guys whisper in each other's ears I always think it's kind of homo") to racially insensitive ("Just saw 5 black men get arrested out the front of Popeye's #damn #stereotypes").
Pittsburgh City Council President Bruce Kraus, the city's first openly gay elected official, condemned Azalea’s show from the beginning. He claimed he would not participate in any Pride events this month as long as
Azalea was on the roster, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He also noted that he has “serious concerns” regarding this year’s parade along with the “long-term vision of Pride's leadership team,” the Delta Foundation.
"I do not take this step lightly. I take it arm-in-arm with the many others who stand ready to make holistic, inclusionary practices and policies the norm for the entire LGBTQIA+ community," he said.
Last year Azalea shared her views on
homophobia in an interview with Advocate.com, saying that it often arises from lack of exposure.
"[Homophobia] comes from ignorance and homophobes not being around enough gay people,” she said. “I think straight men, especially in hip-hop, have this notion that a gay man is going to come and make them gay or try to have sex with them, and I always think that’s so weird . . . People just need to be exposed to it long enough for it to not be scary anymore. That’s the case with a lot of rappers. They haven’t been around very many different people, and a lot of them aren’t very well traveled. It’s just a lack of culture."
Azalea’s cancellation of Pittsburgh Pride comes a week after the rapper announced the cancellation of her North American "Great Escape Tour." According to E! Online, he rapper said she had a “different creative change of heart."
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