Ne-Yo has insisted he won't "be bullied" into apologising for his comments over gender identity.
Ne-Yo has backtracked on his apology
The 'So Sick' hitmaker faced a backlash when he slammed the parents of trans children for letting them make "life-changing" decisions at a young age and insisted he wouldn't "play the game" when it came to using people's preferred pronouns, but later offered his "deepest apologies" for his "insensitive" remarks, and he's now backtracked on his statement and insisted he is "entitled" to his opinion.
In a video shared to Instagram, Ne-Yo - who has seven children from previous relationships - declared he wanted fans to hear “from the horse’s mouth, not the publicist’s computer" and insisted he has "no beef with the LBGTQIA+ community whatsoever" but would "never be OK with allowing a child to make a decision that is detrimental to their life.”
He wrote on Instagram: "Ok. This s*** is getting out of hand. FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH. I WILL NOT BE BULLIED INTO APOLOGIZING FOR HAVING AN OPINION. AGREEING TO DISAGREE IS NOT A DECLARATION OF WAR.
"Lord knows I ain’t perfect, I’ve made my mistakes indeed.
"And I’ve apologized to the people I’ve hurt for those mistakes. I couldn’t cast a stone if I wanted to, which I don’t. And I haven’t.
"My intention is never to offend anybody…but my opinion is MINE and I’m entitled to it. I don’t care what y’all do with yours. That’s YOURS. This is how I FEEL.
"If one of my 7 kids were to decide that he or she wanted to be something other than what they were born as, once they’re old enough and mature enough to make that decision…so be it. Not gonna love em’ any less. Daddy is still Daddy and he loves you regardless.
"But this isn’t even a discussion until they are MENTALLY MATURE ENOUGH to have such a discussion.
"Period. Point blank. Whatever. Y’all do y’all, imma do me and we can agree to disagree and coexist PEACEFULLY. LOVE IS THE ONLY TRUE POWER. (sic)"
The 43-year-old star had originally accused the mothers and fathers of young trans children of having "forgotten what the role of parent" is.
Speaking to Gloria Velez for VladTV, he said: “I feel like the parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is.
“If your little boy comes up to you and says, ‘Daddy I wanna be a girl,’ you just let him rock with that?”
"Where did he get that? If you let this five-year-old little boy eat candy all day, he’s gonna do that. Like, when did it become a good idea to let a five year old, a six year old, a 12 year old, make a life-changing decision?
“When did that happen? Like, I don’t understand that.
"He can’t drive a car yet, but he can decide his sex?"
Following an outcry, an apology was shared to Ne-Yo's twitter account.
The statement read: “After much reflection, I’d like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender identity.
“I’ve always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the LGBTQI+ community, so I understand how my comments could’ve been interpreted as insensitive and offensive. Gender identity is nuanced and I can honestly admit that I plan to better educate myself on the topic, so I can approach future conversations with more empathy.
“At the end of the day, I lead with love and support everyone’s freedom of expression and pursuit of happiness."
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