After making anti-homosexual remarks in an April
interview with Playboy magazine that raised eyebrows, rapper 50 Cent is being
offered an invitation to attend The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s
(GLAAD) 15th Annual Media Awards.
"I ain’t into f######," 50 Cent told
Playboy in the most recent issue. "I don’t like gay people around me, because
I’m not comfortable with what their thoughts are. I’m not prejudiced. I just
don’t go with gay people and kick it – we don’t have that much in common. I’d
rather hang out with a straight dude. But women who like women, that’s cool,"
he said.
50, who’s mother was bi-sexual, said that he
was just being honest when speaking on his views of homosexuality.
"It’s OK to write that I’m prejudiced,"
the rapper later said. "This is as honest as I could possibly be with you.
When people become celebrities they change the way they speak. But my conversation
with you is exactly the way I would have a conversation on the street. We refer
to gay people as f######, as homos. It could be disrespectful, but that’s the
facts."
Yesterday, GLAAD applauded 50 Cent’s honesty
in the interview.
"We applaud his honesty in talking about
the murder of his bisexual mother and appreciate his acknowledgment that he
is not comfortable with gay people. We know that confronting homophobia can
indeed be uncomfortable," said GLAAD’s People of Color Media Manager C.
Riley Snorton. "A good way to start would be to attend GLAAD’s annual media
awards. I’d like to invite 50 Cent as my personal guest."
GLAAD did express concern over the verbiage of
50 Cent’s comments. The organization said "it can be dangerous to use words
like ‘f#####’ and ‘h###’ when talking about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) community."