Joe Budden became a trending topic on social media after people thought he came out as bisexual on his podcast.
A clip of the retired rapper saying he likes “guys and girls” on Episode 485 of the Joe Budden Podcast went viral on Thursday. The out-of-context footage quickly spread as Twitter and Instagram users assumed Joe Budden was honestly revealing he’s bisexual.
But the former Slaughterhouse member’s comment was made during a lengthy discussion about DaBaby and the LGBTQ+ community. Joe Budden and his co-hosts were upset over DaBaby allegedly having to get approval from an LGBTQ+ organization to perform at Rolling Loud New York.
“You can’t get on here and just say the truth,” Budden said. “You just gotta hope that there’s people out there that can read through things and see the truth.”
Co-host Ish then began reading a TMZ-sourced story, which claimed the CEO of Relationship Unleashed endorsed DaBaby performing at Rolling Loud New York. Gwendolyn D. Clemons, the CEO of the LGBTQ+ organization, accused TMZ of misrepresenting her remarks and asked for the article to be corrected or retracted.
Joe Budden and his co-hosts focused on the idea of DaBaby’s career being controlled by LGBTQ+ leaders, referring to the situation as “extortion.” This led to the widely misconstrued comment as the rapper-turned-podcaster joked about being bisexual to avoid the LGBTQ+ community’s wrath.
“How do I spread this news?” he asked. “How do I spread the word? Listen, I like guys and girls. Spread the word. I’m down. I’ve seen enough.”
Joe Budden and his cohorts continued to talk about their issues with how things played out for DaBaby. But all of that fell to the wayside on social media.
After Joe Budden supposedly coming out spread online, the onetime Def Jam artist took delight in his trolling. He reacted to people thinking he’s bisexual via Twitter.
“Ahhhhhhh, i see the word got out!!” he wrote. “Continue to spread the word pls.”
Listen to Joe Budden’s comments, which begin around the 51-minute mark, in the full context above. View some of the reactions he received on Instagram below.