R&B superstar Ne-Yo has walked back a previous apology concerning his remarks on transgender children, now asserting his support for his initial statements criticizing parents who permit their children to undertake permanent sex-change operations.
Ne-Yo recently released a video suggesting his prior apology was orchestrated by his publicist. Defiantly, he conveyed that he isn’t afraid of potential backlash, stating, “I normally don’t give too much of a damn about what y’all think… however this is something I feel very strongly on and I need y’all to hear it from the horse’s mouth and not the publicist’s computer.”
He emphasized his personal viewpoint: “First and foremost, I do not apologize for having an opinion on this matter. I am a 43-year-old heterosexual man raising five boys and two girls — that’s my reality,” he declared. “Now, if my opinion offended somebody, yeah sure, I apologize for you being offended because that wasn’t my intention. However, I am entitled to feel how I feel — the same way you’re entitled to feel how you feel.”
While Ne-Yo made it clear he harbors no animosity towards the LGBTQIA+ community, he expressed strong concerns regarding children making irreversible life choices. “I will never be OK with allowing a child to make a decision that detrimental to their life,” he stated. Taking a stand, he added, “If I get cancelled for this, then maybe this is a world where they don’t need a Ne-Yo no more… I’m a hustler, I’ll figure it out.”
These statements come after Ne-Yo’s initial remarks in a VladTV interview with Gloria Velez. Commenting on the role of parents, he said, “If your little boy comes up to you and says, ‘Daddy I wanna be a girl,’ you just let him rock with that?” He went on to question the wisdom of allowing young children to make life-altering decisions.
Subsequent to that interview, Ne-Yo had posted an apology on social media, where he extended his “deepest apologies to anyone that I may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender ideology.”
