Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. has mostly remained out of the tabloids in recent years. However, the musician better known as B.o.B felt the need to publicly address some controversies connected to the Georgia-raised rapper.
TMZ caught up with B.o.B to discuss the recent backlash directed at him. According to the outlet, members of the Jewish community took issue with Bobby’s promoting alleged Holocaust denier David Irving.
Apparently, some University of Central Florida students called for the cancellation of B.o.B’s on-campus concert on August 25. The UCF undergraduates cited the supposed anti-Semitic views in a 2016 song as the reason to block B.o.B from performing.
These issues date back to B.o.B.’s feud with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson over the debunked Flat Earth theory. At the time, Bobby dropped a diss track titled “Flatline” where he mentioned David Irving and Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler.
“They nervous, but before you try to curve it. Do your research on David Irving. Stalin was way worse than Hitler. That’s why the POTUS gotta wear a kippah,” rapped B.o.B on “Flatline.”
After his announced appearance at the University of Central Florida sparked negative reactions, B.o.B addressed the accusations of anti-Semitism and the spreading of misinformation. He also reflected on the Flat Earth debate from 2016.
“There were threats to cancel the show, but everything got worked out,” the “Nothin’ on You” hitmaker told TMZ. “I feel like a lot of things got blown out of proportion from that whole time period.”
B.o.B also added, “I just feel like I don’t really have any ill intentions in my heart, and I’m an honorable person. I treat people respectfully. I’m not prejudiced. And I feel like you can’t really stop somebody, you can’t cancel somebody like that.”