Reneé Rapp has responded to the Betty Who “lesbophobic” controversy.
Back in August, Who appeared on the Made It Out podcast, where she discussed sexuality and the discourse surrounding queer singers JoJo Siwa and Fletcher – who recently faced backlash for their new relationships with men.
When discussing her viewpoints on the evolution of sexuality, the ‘Taste’ singer mentioned Rapp, who identifies as a lesbian, as someone who could potentially find herself falling in love with man.
“It’s funny that Reneé Rapp is like, ‘You’ll never catch me dating a man.’ It’s like, ‘Go off, queen. ‘ Like I love that for you, “ she said.
“But I also hold space for her in like 10 years if she goes, ‘Oops, I met the love of my life, and it’s a man. I didn’t mean to. ‘ Like that’s okay. It shouldn’t be illegal for you to fall in love.”
While Who has faced major backlash from fans and the LGBTQIA+ community over the last few weeks, Rapp has remained mum on the controversy.
However, that all changed when her digital cover for Cosmopolitan UK dropped on 5 September.
In the piece, the beloved singer-songwriter addressed Who’s remarks head-on, telling the publication:” I mean, it’s just very similar to the whole, ‘She hasn’t found the right man.’ It’s incredibly similar, let’s be so clear.
“I’m just like, ‘What the f*ck? What makes you think I’m gonna end up with a man?’ Also, how about don’t talk about me when it comes to a man? I’m very publicly in a very loving relationship with a woman. So I’m not really sure what about that is so blurry.”
While Rapp acknowledged that “identifying yourself can be really difficult,” she went on to say that it’s not always outside pressures that make it challenging.
“I think that pressure often comes from you. Like, no one ever had a gun to my head and was like, ‘Tell me what you are, right the fuck now.’ I had a gun to my own head and I was like, ‘Tell me what you are, right the fuck now,’ because I was trying to figure it out,” she explained.
“I’m always confused whenever people try to do that to other people. Just focus on yourself. Just literally focus on yourself. Don’t bring my f*cking lesbian name into your mouth and into this drama.”
Rapp’s interview comes a few days after Who apologised for her statements in an Instagram Story.
“In recent days, I’ve taken time to sit with the conversation around my gender and sexuality. I recognise that the language I used poorly articulated my experience and unintentionally reinforced ideas that were harmful or dismissive, particularly toward the lesbian community. That was never my intention, and I’m truly sorry,“ she wrote.
“Everyone’s journey is deeply personal, and I shouldn’t have spoken in ways that generalised or spoke for others. I went into the interview to discuss my own journey – specifically, how I figured out how to identify myself and how I ultimately landed on non-binary and bisexual, both assignments that live somewhere in-between.”
Toward the end of her apology, Who recognised that she was coming from a place of privilege, adding that she “never meant to contribute to prejudice against the community“ and will do better.