Eminem, the rapper who suddenly finds himself irrelevant in today’s music marketplace, came up with the oh-so-clever term “fake its” to describe Lance Bass, Adam Lambert, and Clay Aiken in his new song “Elevator.” But supposedly he won’t be calling anyone a “fake it” — or saying anything anti-gay — in Britain come July 2010, because he’s make a pact with organizers of the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park not to make fun of homos. In exchange, the gays won’t protest.
It’s been over five years since Eminem last performed in the U.K. His last tour, in 2001, was picketed by Peter Tatchell’s OutRage! group, because Em would use the F-word in his lyrics, like in “Kill You”: “You faggots keep eggin’ me on/til I have you at knifepoint, then you beg me to stop?/SHUT UP! Give me your hands and feet/I said SHUT UP when I’m talkin’ to you/YOU HEAR ME? ANSWER ME!” Ouch!
But no longer! In a deal reached to keep the gays from rising up against Eminem’s Wireless Festival performance, he’s gonna quit with the bad language when he hits the Wireless Festival stage.
But wait a second. Didn’t Buju Banton agree, in 2007 and after three years of lobbying by gay groups, to stop using homophobic lyrics in his public concerts and promise not to write new homophobic songs? Yes, yes he did. (He also, reportedly, renegged on that agreement.) So why, then, are we letting Eminem off the hook and not Buju?
How about we take this to the next level?
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Both wrote very popular songs that called for violence and slaughter of gays. One just happens to be an American rapper, the other a Jamaican dancehall artist. If Eminem ever manages to return to his Grammy glory — where he snagged three awards in 2001 during the same show he performed with Elton John — and receives a nomination from the Academy at some point in the future, will gays protest it like they’re doing Buju? Or does Eminem somehow manage to escape our most aggressive ire, while Buju — whose most recent interaction with gay activists went like this — will forever remain persona non grata as we seek to upend his American career?
(And don’t give us any of this “but Buju is now an accused coke dealer” bullshit. The world celebrates drug dealers and users, both convicted and alleged.)
We’ve got no problem with critics attacking anti-gay artists. But shouldn’t there be a blanket policy on this? As in: If you record and perform music that celebrates terrorizing LGBTs, we will never support you, nor stand aside as you try to profit from this type of lyrical hatred. And while we’re pleased Em won’t be delivering anti-gay lyrics this summer, are we so blind not to realize he’s doing this only because, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to financially profit from a performance?
David
Maybe because it’s evident that Eminem is actually hating himself for his same sex attractions, and Buju is actually a violent, murderous hater?
Evan
I’d also argue that with Eminem, it’s pretty obvious that he’s being more than a little bit tongue-in-cheek.
I actually think the idea of picketing an Eminem show is a wee bit oversensitive for my taste.
RomanHans
Letting Eminem perform because he promises he won’t insult gays is like marrying Charlie Sheen after he promises not to hit you.
ganymeade
Eminem oozes rays of repressed gay self loathing . The first time I saw him I thought this is one said closet case. He may never deal with that but I am calling it. He just seems like such a text book case to me and I have known a few.
FakeName
Who is this “we” you speak of who is supposedly embracing Eminem?
kelli
Eminem is old news……his chapter is closed…
colin
eminem is old news? Had one of the best selling albums of the year and will most likely do the same exact thing next year when Relapse 2 drops. Eminem has many times said that his “attacks” don’t mean anything. He is a rapper and he puts things in his songs that sound good. Unfortunatly so many dumbasses take it personally. Adam Lambert is one of the few who understands eminem. He disagreed with eminems use of the term “fake its” but he knows eminem is a rapper and that being mention in his song is an honor. so stop hating you fucking dumbasses
Brad
“the rapper who suddenly finds himself irrelevant in today’s music marketplace”~ haha you must be kidding… I don’t need to say anymore more than that’s the biggest joke in a while that I’ve heard… but I will. Relapse is the highest selling hip hop album this year, not to mention one of the highest selling albums of the year. He won a VMA, and has been, once again, been nominated for several grammy’s. Relapse has 5 top 40 hits, two of which are top ten hits, and one, Crack a Bottle, which was a number one song in the country. The re-release of the album this week feature the top ten hit “Forever” and “Hell Breaks Loose” had the highest debut of the week, entering the charts and the number 29 position. That’s all in all 7 top forty songs, not to mention, also, that Vibe magazine before it went under named Eminem the best rapper alive… irrelevant?
vivi
Adam Lambert should look into Eminem’s booklet. It says “faggots”. I don’t know where he heard “fake it”. Eminem always agreed to not hate gays in UK and the actual outcome was always even worse.
Btw, the rapper who “suddenly finds himself irrelevant in today’s music marketplace” is the best selling artist of this decade who just released the re-release of his clearly not so unsuccessful latest album.
Everyone is Racist
Because Buju is black, obviously, and all black people hate gays.
Queerty, stop publishing stories that “hint” at such an obvious conclusion.
Eminem is harmless, Buju is terrifying.
thepulpit
Both require continuous agitation!
“Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate. That’s our job today: to control the extent to which people can publicly manifest antigay sentiment.” – Bayard Rustin: the black gay man who made MLK
Buju did perform “Boom Bye Bye” after professing his would not. Let see what E man does. Still, continuously agitate, agitate, and agitate.
ASID
lol..Eminem has the highest selling album of the year if Susan boyle wasnt there
Eminem just got named the Artist of the decade…..Eminem has the highest selling hip hop album of the decade
so….atleast he’s not old news right now
Richard
haha, he doesn’t actually mean the things he says at all. it’s all tongue in cheek, don’t take it so serious, the “not performing anti-gay songs” story, is just tabloid fodder.
Glynn
When in Rome?
In the UK their are laws against hate lyrics which can be implemented. So, it’s just easier if he keeps his cake hole shut and takes the money.
Back at home he is free to verbally abuse whoever he likes – these shits never choose to do it face to face though do they?
Mark
Excuses, excuses, excuses…..
It’s amazing how some of you folks are willing to accept that what this douchebag says are just “jokes.” That’s like the bully at school who calls the gay kid names, pushes down, and makes his life hell but then says it was all a joke when his butt hauled into the principal’s office…
He says homophobic things because he doesn’t like queers. Accept it.
Ted
Agree with the above post, who is this “we”? So a few groups choose not to protest his concert, and now this means that all gays embrace him?
And regardless of whether or not Eminem sold a lot of albums this year, he is pretty much irrelevant. What songs off this album will be remembered in 2010? Will the album be remembered in 2010? Hell no one really remembers it now.
AxelDC
Probably because we always suspected Eminem of being a big closet case himself.
sal(the original)
Who’s letting him off the hook?never put any money with his name on it so i doubt that’s me
sal(the original)
and i think if his music can give some ignorant kid some courage to beat up a gay person and if he’s feels justified cause this “superstar” thinks its macho cool to hate gays then that warrents the same protest as buju
sal(the original)
this is the mother fuckin 21st century,prehistoric views and hate for “fags” should not be tolerated in a living moving society/world
rich
im gay and eminem is a an absoloute genius, the whole point of eminem is he uses anything that society finds politically incorrect, its all tongue in cheek, id still wanna hear those songs, gay people are generally politcally incorrect go onto any gay forum.. so we only care when it refers to the gay community, double standards
bill
Emawho?
naghanenu
No I disagree. I wouldn’t want someone to call me a nigger as a joke.
Double standards. If its bad for Buju its bad for eminem. He’s still
Telling kids out there that word is ok to use.
jake
Why do people who dislike Eminem try to insist he is irrelevant? Even if you hate the guy you are kidding yourself if you try to say he’s irrelevant, his “chapter is closed” or that he’s “old news”. You people piss me off. And the reason Eminem is getting off easier than Buju is because a) he’s way more popular and more people like him, and b) his music was never as bad. Yeah Eminem said the word faggot in his songs, but buju actually wrote entire songs about how being gay is unacceptable didn’t he? I’m not saying its perfectly fine to say “faggot” as loosely as Eminem did, but there is a huge difference there.
pawsum
Who cares. They both suck.
anyu89
Marshall Mathers doesn’t hate gays.
He’s just playing, you know he loves you.
irisita69
Eminem is talented & I always liked him.
What makes him irrelevant is his homophobia.
I hate haters.
damon459
I never embraced him or any other rapper it’s worthless noise if you ask me and Eminem is a talentless moron.
John The Ghost
First of all, Eminem plays characters in his raps. He has many songs in which he speaks from his heart – try to find anti-gay references or lyrics on those cuts.
This is so ridiculous. On his most recent songs he speaks of stalking and murdering little girls… does that make him a murderer?
Ed Norton plays a violent racist in American History X. Why isn’t there outrage from the black community against Ed Norton?? Oh yeah, ’cause hes playing a character. Just like Eminem (playing Slim Shady).
Ta da…
damendo
At “John the Ghost”. You could not have said it any better. Eminem plays characters. It is all an act people, get over it! There are scarier things and people out there to point your fairy wands at and try and make disappear! Plus it doesnt hurt that Em is cute. He’d make a great bottom boy.
Tackel
It’s amazing how people can say what Eminen does is JUST an act.They ACT like they know Eminen and whats in his heart and mind. The danger with this type of thinking, is it’s gives an artist an “excuess” to express homophobia,and then hid behind this FAKE PERSONA. While gullible gays are taken in . And would an adolescent be able to tell that the artist is in charater?? He could do alot of damage by sowing the seeds of a young mind who may look-up to him and think this is cool. And remember, behind every jest is a truth.
Fitz
His lyrics are far more misogynistic than they are homophobic. I find what he says about women far more caustic. (and frankly, I will giggle until I pee if his daughter is someday the victim of the kinds of things he applauds).
Online Paid Surveys Guide
good point. they both should face the same criticisms.
Mark
Eminen is a “cute” white guy. He can say blatantly homophobic crap and some of you give him a pass by saying that he’s playing a role.
Give it up. How do you know that he’s not being truthful in this song just as we was being truthful of his feelings when he disparaged his mother, ex-wife, etc.?
The reality is that many of Eminem’s fans will listen to his lyrics and accept his words. They’ll nod their heads in agreement, learning and accepting homophobia.
alan brickman
It’s because gays hate blacks no matter what they do or say….
scott ny'er
hey all you eminem fans. did eminem ever have a song that said to kill gays? i’m curious. that’s a big distinction between him and buju.
even if he didn’t, it doesn’t excuse him. i don’t buy into this act thing. Then i guess it’s cool to don white robes and a hood and jokingly say blacks should be slaves. Or shave your head, wear a swatiska and jokingly say kike and bad things about jews. I guess that’s cool as well using the “act” and “tongue-in-cheek” logic. Somehow, I don’t think people will let that pass.
stephanie
Can we get over this already? It’s music. Not yours, not mine, but HIS. He can say anything he damn well pleases, just as you can type and publish anything you damn well please. Don’t agree with him? Fine. I have no problem with that. But get over this ridiculous idea that by listening to Eminem, people are going to turn homophobic. It’s absurd. I watched Fight Club the other night. Does that mean I’m going to go out and start bashing people? Some of you would tend to think so. You should just turn your TV’s off right now, never pick up another magazine, don’t open another book, rip the radio out of your car and live in complete isolation. Otherwise, you may be corrupted!
Well, gotta go.. Family Guy is on and that dog, Brian, is having sex with a human. Sounds like a great idea. I think I’ll go make it with my pup.
Please.
scott ny'er
@No. 37 · stephanie
i think what you’re getting at is freedom of speech. And there is up to a point. Just like you can’t yell fire in a theatre just because you feel like it, there are instances where you can’t publish, type and say certain things. Hence why I asked if said about something about killing gays.
if you really think you can publish anything you damn well please, why don’t you publish some bombing ny thing and pass it out at the WTC site. Let’s see how far that gets you. Do you really think you will “corrupt” people? Nope. But you’d be in jail probably.
fake it
get oVER IT u gay cock
T-in-Cali
I think we have to look at the fact that Eminem spreads his hate around to everyone. Also spreads his tolerance around as well.
lest we forget the track ‘The REal Slim Shady’…
“We ain’t nothing but mammals..” Well, some of us cannibals
who cut other people open like cantaloupes.
But if we can hump dead animals and antelopes
then there’s no reason that a man and another man can’t elope”
There he goes giving his support for same sex marriage. I think we need to take an artists catalogue as a whole before we jump down peoples throats.
Buju is notorious specifically for his hate against LGTBs. He has not expressed any remorse for his hate or tried to make any true amends. Eminem says crazy things all the time. He is an artist but has shown his support for LGBT’s.
So there Queerty that is why. PS who writes ur blog? Towleroad is MUCH better!
mikeandrewsdantescove
I loved it when the Pet Shop Boys dissed Eminem saying he was gay.
He’s such a loser for doing the Elevator track.
Mike
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MikeAndrews1
Pete
Also: Why doesn’t Eminem try his “joke” with racism or antisemitism? Instead of, uh, “satirizing” homophobic or misogynistic bigotry, why doesn’t he use racist or antisemitic slurs non-stop and glorify hate crimes against those groups? Notice he has refused to ever use the n-word? I wonder why.
Bernadette
@ Stephanie
You’re taking the easy way out. I don’t think that people will listen to Eminem or any other homophobic rapper and suddenly become a raging homophobic themselves. The point is that people who already have this mindset will be feeling vindicated by his lyrics and it doesn’t matter if he’s in character while spewing his vitriol. I don’t think that homophobic people give a damn if Slim Shady or Marshall Mathers is the one supporting their point of view. They will only see that it is okay for anybody to publically proclaim their hatred against gay people. The stupid excuse of people who propagate hatred towards others and discriminate against others that it is ‘only a joke’ is mostly backed by people who a) share those people’s sentiments b) aren’t affected by those hurtful lyrics or c) just don’t bother to care.
The thing is that it would be much easier to recognize something as a joke or even satire if the people making those ‘jokes’ would use public platforms to strongly declare that this is not at all their opinion but merely an attempt to raise awareness about what’s wrong in our society. I have yet to watch/read an interview with Eminem in which he clearly states that he’s not a homophobe and doesn’t support homophobia.
A performance with Elton John or any other openly gay music artist does not a gay activist make!
It’s just a transparent move to not wind up on the media’s blacklist because of his discriminatory lyrics but to soften the homophobic image so that dumb people keep on buying and playing his music thinking ‘Oh, that Eminem! He’s not so bad after all. He doesn’t hate the gays!’ Um, yeah. >_<
rudy
I don’t care if he is a straight homophobe, a closet case, or just someone trying to make a buck the only way he knows how – he made his name and money selling cheap anti-gay hate. If that’s genius, what in hell do you call real artistic giants like Tennessee Williams, Sondheim, Meryl Streep, Duke Ellington, Mozart, or Picasso, to name a few?
princess johnson
oh my gosh you gays!
afrolito
Eminem gets a pass simply because he’s WHITE, and the queens on this board can’t ever come to terms with the FACT that their brethren loathe them as much as the scary blacks.
SamK
Back in 1992, when “Boom Bye Bye” was released in the U.S. there was controversy about the song right away. GLAAD and the GMAD (Gay Men of African Descent) swung into action and “decoded” the Jamaican patois lyrics of “Boom Bye Bye.” Then they began working to get radio stations WBLS and WRKS to remove the song from their playlists. Buju Banton got dropped from the line-up of the WOMAD festival that year. Buju Banton then apologized for the song.
However, Banton continued to perform “Boom Bye Bye” at least until 2004. Buju Banton signed the Reggae Compassionate Act. The signed form is on the internet and available to all. But he denied that he ever signed it. (Beenie Man also signed and later denied that he signed it, as well).
Most LGBT people are not aware that Buju Banton has a new anti gay routine. This is the one that contains the line “there is no end to the war between me and faggots.” If you listen closely, there is more anti gay stuff in the song. You can see a video of Buju performing this new routine at http://tinyurl.com/y8967pa “Buju Banton Live @ Ritz Theater RoadBlock Radio & Hot 97” This video was made in October 2008 in New Jersey. Buju did not perform this anti gay routine during his 2009 U.S. tour.
Buju Banton is a deeply religious man. The license plate on his silver Land Rover is “Jah One.” He is a Rastafarian and Rastafarians take the Old Testament seriously. They don’t eat pork. They don’t eat shellfish. And they agree with Leviticus 20:13 that gays should be executed. Buju Banton sings religious songs during his performances and even does a little preaching.
Buju Banton has never really distanced himself from “Boom Bye Bye.” He is as virulently homophobic now as he was in 1992. And frankly, to be a successful dancehall music performer in Jamaica, he has to be seen by his fans to be intensely anti gay.
I’m impressed that Elton John performed with Eminem. Eminem may be trying to reach out to us. Of course he could just end up cussing us all out and calling for our murder like Buju Banton.
Note that Eminem does not have that intensely, intensely homophobic Jamaican fan base to satisfy that Buju does.
I say, let’s see what happens with Eminem at the Wireless Festival. We’ve given Buju Banton chance after chance. Let’s give Eminem a chance.
jason
I’d say it’s because that homophobic organization known as MTV put its energies behind Eminem, promoting him at every opportunity. A white boy who made black rap appealing to white boys – too good an opportunity to pass up.
Also, gays were too afraid to criticize MTV. They got sucked in by MTV’s token pro-gay gestures, such as including gay men on shows like Real World.
Gay men need to take some responsibility for allowing Eminem to go unchallenged.
ace
Listen, I appreciate it’s not easy to understand Eminem’s humour and artistic talent, but at least try.
He denies being homophobic. (@Bernadette, then you haven’t looked. Just take a look in his damn autobiography for one thing.) He isn’t, or he wouldn’t be good friends with Elton John. If he had anything against gay people, he would say so, just like he has always said out loud everything else he thinks, for better or worse.
As for “faggot”, it’s not necessarily a homophobic slur, and he does not use it as one.
Remember “8 Mile”, where he defends a gay man against a bully, telling the latter something like “Paul may be gay, but you’re a FAGGOT”? That’s how he uses it. It’s an insult, a way of dissing somebody, just like you might say “d***head” or “a**hole”
SouLKid
Wow @ the excuses out here. Forget Buju, would y’all be defending Eminem like u are right now if he wasn’t white?
ace
Not sure why people are so fixated with skin colour around here. Just how does it matter if you are white, black or whatever?
terrwill
We have to believe in Gay karma. That homophobic savage Buju Banton was busted on coke charges and that will prevent him from ever getting another visa to perform in most Western countries………And Eminimin has a tiny cock…………..
afrolito
Eminem is not, and never was good friends with Elton John. They performed a song together once (years ago) at Elton’s request. Stop trying to make it seem like they’re fucking bff’s. They’re not.
And since when is FAGGOT “not necessarily a homophobic slur”? If Buju (or any random black person) said it, the white queens in here would be calling for a lynching. So sick of the stunning hypocrisy here.
Eminem wouldn’t spit on any of you bitches if you were on fire.
Chitown Kev
@Afrolito @ Soulkid
100% agreed.
Of course, to many white people (gay and straight) only other white people get to be diverse, can use metaphor, and all the other patent excuses.
If Eminem were black, he’d be straight up homophobic because…well, black folks all have the same mind, the same type of thinking (even when they’re pro-gay, they’re really not…gotta check for those hidden messages)…and besides, black folks ain’t smart enough to even know what metaphor is. Black folks don’t have the ability to speak tongue in cheek.
Anthony in Nashville
Several of the comments here make it obvious that some white gays are willing to “cop pleas,” no matter how absurd, for white homophobes — especially if they are seen as attractive.
It’s almost like these posters have an attitude of “oh, my people can’t be *LIKE THAT*” despite a decade of evidence that Eminem is no friend of gays.
Ben
The difference, from what I can tell, is that Buju reneged on his promise and Eminem has not (yet).
Chitown Kev
@John the Ghost
2 entirely different mediums.
I could argue that any number of rappers (of whatever ethnicity) assume personas; after all, rap is a form of poetry and poets have been assuming personas since…Homer, really.
Using your example, Ed Norton has assumed many other personas quite unlike his character in American History X…plus the cinema is largely a visual medium.
ace
“Eminem is not, and never was good friends with Elton John. They performed a song together once (years ago) at Elton’s request.”
Heh, that’s not exactly all contact they’ve ever had. But if you refuse to take in facts that don’t fit your prejudices, your choice.
“‘Me and him have had similar lives and stuff,’ Eminem tells the Detroit Metro Times. ‘We became friends and I talk to him about things, career-wise.
‘When I first wanted to get sober, I called him and spoke to him about it. He’s somebody who’s in the business and can identify and relate to the lifestyle and how hectic things can be.
‘He understands … the pressure and any other reasons that you want to come up with for doing drugs.’
The support Elton, 62, who checked into rehab in 1990, gave Eminem meant he was able to conquer his demons.” http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/341615/eminem-elton-john-helped-me-get-off-drugs/1/
And some of you people should really take a lesson or two from same Sir Elton:
‘From the start, I’ve always admired Eminem’s thinking. That’s the reason I wanted to appear on the Grammys with him when I was asked, despite all the nonsense talked about his being homophobic and crap like that. Let the Boy Georges and the George Michaels of the world get up in a twist about it if they don’t have the intelligence to see his intelligence.
Eminem has the balls to say what he feels and to make offensive things funny. That’s very necessary today in America, with people being muzzled and irony becoming a lost art. Artists like Eminem who use their free speech to get a point across are vitally important. There just aren’t many people in the world with balls that big and talent that awesome.’ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7249916/the_immortals__the_greatest_artists_of_all_time_82_eminem
ace
Oh, and *please* drop the race card. It is as inane as it is boring.
Chitown Kev
@Ace…
Eminem maybe all of those things but the point still stands that you would never allow a black rapper as popular as Eminem to make “offensive things funny” shit like this and then describe him as being ironic.
Hell, Kanye West pretty much does the same thing and his messages are pro-gay if anything. Yet folks on this blog will still attack him (not that Kanye doesn’t deserve it at times, he CAN be an asshole).
Yes, as a recovering person myself, I understand that bond between John and Eminem very well…
Chitown Kev
@49
Fuck you, I’m calling it as I see it.
The FACT is that most white gays (or at least the ones on this blog) would NEVER explain away the homophobic lyrics of a black rapper as the person “assuming personas” or showing a sense of irony.
Chitown Kev
oops, #60 was directed at Ace in #59.
[email protected]
i have never embraced/excused enema and i never will!
both buju and enema are rabid gaybashers!
the only difference is that buju spews his hatred for an entire culture
shame!!!
alicia banks
eloquent fury
Gay Unity
@ChiTown Kev…
i know you think it’s justified, but you are writing from a place of anger at white gays. If you think this group of people deserves your anger than so be it. (and I’m writing you as someone who sees your intelligent and uplifting comments at Pams House Blend…then you come here and start slurring ‘white gays’)
Take just as an example:
“The FACT is that most white gays (or at least the ones on this blog) would NEVER explain away the homophobic lyrics of a black rapper as the person “assuming personas” or showing a sense of irony.”
1. Come on. Is it “most white gays”, “the ones on here”, the ones you’ve met that made you really mad, what?
2. For the record…I do not believe that “most white gays” in any universal sense would EVER explain away eminem. He’s hardly a gay icon, and he’s gotten a bunch of shit for one thing or another, and he’s responded with peace offerings to the gay community, which may or may not be well-intentioned…but are certainly an advance over buju’s “there is no end to the war between me and faggot.”
3. I guess at the end of the day, what i’m saying…when you use terms like “most white gays,” then you tar me with the brush of being ignorant, hateful, whatever. I reject those values. Moreover, I call them out as real obstacles to social justice and to advances for these two, inter-related communities. I am fully aware of the horriffic legacy of racial discrimination in our country, and intimately familiar with some of its more troubling current instances such as via Prop 8…but you are buying into a black vs. gays (or blacks vs white gays) storyline aand mentality, the *exact* same storyline and mentality that some gay, white people have also bought into…and by doing so you are hurting both communities.
So cut it out. Many of us are working towards the same goal.
You feel entitled to judge great swaths of humanity; I don’t. And you shouldn’t.
(And yes, I take issue with anyone [especially on here with the history of racial tensions from both sides] who started a sentence along the lines of “the trouble with most blacks is that they…”. So cut it out you white fools on here too.
This place is getting twisted, twisted!
As always, I agree with Alicia Banks!
afrolito
@ace
LMFAO @ you trying to google up a relationship between Elton and Eminem. I stand firmly behind what I said, those two are about as bff, as I am with the President. The ONLY thing Elton wanted from Eminem, was a chance to suck his dick. Too bad for him, that shit is miniscule according to his wife Kim. Lol!
mike
What these pop stars do is pander to those who are opposed to the erotic male-male interaction.
ace
Afrolito, it isn’t my fault that you didn’t know what is otherwise fairly common knowledge, so that I had to document it for you.
If you are curious, you can just go read his autobiography for further information.
But given that you seem to have made up your mind already..
Chitown Kev
@Gay Unity
I am obviously not speaking of white gays that simply think that Eminem is homophobic.
And if you truly know me from Pam’s place then you know that I don’t go around slurring white gays.
And you would also know that I have no love for buju banton.
Now, I actually don’t disagree with Ace…Eminem, to an extent, is doing what all poets and singers do. I’m saying that if you choose to apply those standards to him, then apply it to black rappers as well. And I’ve never seen that on this blog.
And I agree with alicia banks more often than not my damn self.
terrwill
No. 48 · jason: You really need to view MTV more. There is no way you can rightfully make a statement like:
“I’d say it’s because that homophobic organization known as MTV put its energies behind Eminem, promoting him at every opportunity. A white boy who made black rap appealing to white boys – too good an opportunity to pass up.
Also, gays were too afraid to criticize MTV. They got sucked in by MTV’s token pro-gay gestures, such as including gay men on shows like Real World.”
MTV has Gays in virtually ALL of its shows, not just the mainstays like Real World. The reality shows like True Life and Made have always had positive images of Gays. Cheesy dating shows like NEXT, Date MY Mom, Disaster Date, et all always have the Gays represented. What most of these shows portray is teen life in various scenarios. And they portray Gay teens in the exact same scenarios, facing the same shit as straight teens do. Many of these teens are from deep red states where MTV is the first exposure they have ever seen to an out teen. My first roomate in college was from South Carolina, his Father was an evangelical preacher and for most of his life he heard nothing but how Gays were Satan’s representives on earth seeking to destroy life as the straights knew it. At our first meeting I told him I was Gay and he said he had no problem with that cause he had “gotten used to seeing Gays on MTV!………
wait what
Uh, the gay backlash on Buju Banton may also be greater because he was part of a group that physically assaulted a group of gay men. He also literally declared war on homosexuality. I’m not saying Eminem hasn’t done anything wrong, I’m just surprised at the lack of research.
dpbfeb
Let’s cut the bull. Like it or not. This is about race. If Eminem were Black there wouldn’t be the excuses of he’s just being funny.
Why can’t we be honest that as a hole the Gay community give descent looking White guys a pass.
Chitown Kev is right. It’s hard to listen to and accept. But race plays a major part on how we judge things both Black and White.
I don’t hate White people but I’m tired of not being able to have a real discussion about the racism in the Gay community. I’m tired of being accused of using the “race card” when it has to do with obvious hypocrisy.
Buju Banton is a complete homophobe and bigot but I bet you money I can find on some website that he’s not serious. He’s just speaking for the community he represents… yada, yada, yada. It’s all the same people. It’s biggotted. I don’t care how hot or how much people wish that Eminem was closeted.
Michael W.
Eminem is so cute. Buju Baton or whatever is ugly and dirty looking. He looks like a homeless person.
And it’s not about race, because there’s plenty of attractive black men so long as they have a sufficient amount of European features (like Shemar Moore). Ugly is ugly no matter the race.
josh
wow really no. 72? “there’s plenty of attractive black men so long as they have […] European features”
So… black men are only attractive when they look like white men? That’s just phenomenal. Douche.
Eminem shouldn’t use the word faggot, I agree. But there is no comparing someone who simply uses the word faggot in a negative context, to someone who has repeatedly called for, and allegedly participated in, violence against our community. It’s equivocating using a naughty word, to condoning actual physical harm against people. Stupid reactionary, PC liberals.
Chitown Kev
Ok , let’s take Kanye West. His mother was the chairperson of an English Department, which, I assume, would mean that Kanye had a…reasonably comfortable middle class existence. Certainly in going all ‘hood (and ignorant) as he does at times, Kanye is assuming a persona that has nothing to do with the way that he grew up.
Common (who has sung and renounced homophobic lyrics) is the son of an educator and a youth counselor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_(entertainer)
Now these 2 black rappers actually do come from material circumstances that really are better off than Eminem. So do more rappers than you think.
SamK
I don’t think we should give Eminem a pass. But perhaps a second or third chance or even a fourth chance.
Over the more than 20 years since he wrote “Boom Bye Bye” (1988) Buju Banton has had a lot of chances.
Some of us look at Eminem and think: “He’s one of us.” What about Buju Banton?
The mean spirited and virulent anti gay campaign that Buju has waged for more than 17 years shows a focus, shows a concern about homosexuality that is unusual. This is often something that is seen in closeted gay homophobes. Go ahead and look at http://tinyurl.com/5e792d
Buju Banton is the youngest of 15 children. I think it is likely that he has older brothers. He also appears to be right-handed. That means that the “fraternal birth order effect” gives him a greater chance of being gay. http://tinyurl.com/ykvwqcw
A documentary by Isaac Julian, “The Darker Side of Black,” is said to contain information that Buju Banton’s was once a “rent boy.” Isaac Julian is better known for the film “Looking for Langston.”
As for Buju not being attractive: Take a look at the younger, short haired, shaven Buju on the back of his “Voice of Jamaica” CD. Or watch the YouTube video of “Untold Stories.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb-0Eo0Yk0o made circa 1995.
Anyway, you don’t really have to be attractive to be gay.
Eminem might be gay. Buju Banton might be gay.
And, by the way, Elton John is said to be helping out Eminem with a drug problem.
Eminem and Elton John performed together and put out a record together. Do you think that Buju Banton would perform with Elton John?
Chris
Naw Eminem is not gay.
I worked for him back in the Slim Shady LP/Marshall Mathers LP days and he got a lot of pussy, and he really does not like gay men at all.
It’s not weird to hate faggots for a straight man.
GXXL
@Fitz: You would “giggle” at his daughter being the victim of abuse or rape? As a rape survivor myself I feel that by saying that you completely invalidate any point you might of made. Maybe you didn’t mean to perpetuate the sickest misogyny. Did you realize that what you were saying is the very worst kind of hate speech, your words are in the very same category as his. Let me be clear I’m not saying you are a misogynist, but you promoted misogyny but putting those words in a public Place
Queer Supremacist
Eminem and Buju Banton are two sides of the same coin. I wouldn’t embrace them, in fact I’d kill them with my bare hands.
elizabeth
I can sleep better now knowing Emenem has weighed in on this…
By the way I found a website that give you prizes for your opinions here is the topic about this:
http://opinion.ezwingame.com/topics/is-eminem-right-to-speak-up-for-gay-marriage
homophobicpower
thats lame queers need to STFU and go away