Is Wale a Homophobe?

D.C. rapper Wale has awkwardly extricated himself from a scheduled appearance at a Memorial Day DC Black Pride event, part of a weekend described by Washington’s Metro Weekly as a “gay pride day festival” for gay, lesbian, bi, and trans African-Americans. Though you wouldn’t know that from the title alone, which is what organizers are claiming Wale ended up reacting to: ”What happened is that when the first blast went out that Wale was going to be at Black Pride he got cold feet,” a DC Black Pride board member told the Weekly, “and his agent first said Wale wasn’t available because he had to do family stuff. Then we got another e-mail saying he didn’t know what kind of event this was when he agreed to it.” In short? “They just said he couldn’t do it. So it basically is homophobia rearing its ugly head once again.”

Wale’s agent says differently, citing an exhausting touring schedule and a miscommunication: ”All of the facts of the event were not disclosed with the offer and therefore, he feels mislead and regretfully declines.” Of course, rappers do indeed cancel shows for all kinds of reasons, all the time. And the evidence seems circumstantial here. But if Wale did in fact bow out because of a fear of being associated with an LGBT event, he would be far from the first to do so in an industry populated by men living in weird terror at the prospect of the mythical gay rapper. The only thing we can say for sure? That J. Holiday — whom DC Black Pride booked as Wale’s replacement, according to The Washington Post — isn’t one them. [Metro Weekly via Click Track]