Ne-Yo showed no interest in backing down from his polarizing remarks on parenting and transgender children. The singer scoffed at the backlash by referencing a Deion Sanders quote on Friday (August 11).
“In case anybody was curious,” Ne-Yo captioned the Instagram post, which included audio from a Sanders press conference.
The clip featured Sanders responding to criticism of his actions as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football team. Ne-Yo posted a video of himself staring at the camera while the audio of Sanders’ speech played.
“Look at me,” Sanders said. “What about me would make you think that I care about your opinion of me. Your opinion of me is not the opinion I have of myself. You ain’t make me, so you can’t break me. You didn’t build me, so you can’t kill me. God established me, so ain’t nothing you can do to me. I been him!”
Ne-Yo sparked controversy after criticizing parents who allowed their children to question their gender identity. He issued an apology on social media, but he quickly backtracked and blamed a publicist for misrepresenting his stance.
“I WILL NOT BE BULLIED INTO APOLOGIZING FOR HAVING AN OPINION,” he declared on Instagram. “AGREEING TO DISAGREE IS NOT A DECLARATION OF WAR.”
Ne-Yo said he did not agree with allowing kids to identify as something other than the gender of their birth. But he did say he would accept one of his children coming out as transgender once “they’re old enough and mature enough to make that decision.”