Ne-Yo and his publicist are not on the same page.
The singer-songwriter doubled down on his comments about parents and transgender children, saying an apology released Sunday came from his “publicist’s computer,” not from his mouth.
The Grammy-winning R&B singer sparked backlash for a recent interview he did with former video girl Gloria Velez for VladTV.
In the now-viral interview uploaded to YouTube Saturday, the 43-year-old singer questioned parents who support children identifying as a different gender than the sex they were assigned at birth.
“I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is,” Ne-Yo said. “It’s like, if your little boy comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl,’ and you just let him rock with that? He’s five.”
Related Story: Ne-Yo Doesn’t ‘Understand’ Parents Who Let Kids Transition Genders
On Sunday, a statement posted to Ne-Yo’s Twitter/X account said he expressed his “deepest apologies” and understood his comments could have been perceived as “insensitive and offensive.”
But on Monday night, Ne-Yo walked back the apology in a video on Instagram, captioned: “I will not be bullied into apologizing for having an opinion.”
The “Miss Independent” singer said he normally “doesn’t care” about what people think, but “this is something I feel very strongly on.”
“I need y’all to hear this from the horse’s mouth, not the publicist’s computer,” Ne-Yo stated. “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, OK? That’s my reality. Now, if my opinion offended somebody, yeah, sure, I apologize for you being offended because that wasn’t my intention. My intention is never to offend anybody.”
He added that he was speaking from the heart when he made the comments and said he’s entitled to his opinions.
“I was asked a question and I answered the damn question. I have no beef with the LGBTQIA+ community, whatsoever,” he continued.
Then he confirmed he is against children transitioning genders.
“I will never be OK with allowing a child to make a decision that is detrimental to their life,” Ne-Yo said. “I definitely plan to educate myself a little bit more on this matter. However, I doubt there’s any book anywhere or any opinion that somebody’s going to tell me that’s going make me OK with letting a child make a decision like that.”
The singer ended the video by saying he’s not concerned about getting canceled.
“If I get canceled for this, then, you know what, maybe this is a world where they don’t need a Ne-Yo no more,” he said. “And I ain’t got no problem with that. I’m a hustler, alright? I’ll figure it out. I’ve got kids to raise and I’m going to do that, regardless. With that being said, y’all have a good day, I love everybody. Live how you want to live. Love how you want to love, but your opinion is yours.”
Below is a copy of Ne-Yo’s video taken from The Independent, in case he deletes it from Instagram.
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