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Stormyz Calls Out NME For Making Him “Depression Poster Boy”

By: Mike WinslowCategory: News

STORMZY BLASTS NME FOR USING HIM AS DEPRESSION ‘POSTER BOY’
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(AllHipHop News) Grime superstar Stormzy has lashed out at NME for using his personal battle with depression to “shift copies” of the magazine.

Editors at the music publication used a picture of Stormzy, real name Michael Omari, on the front cover of its latest issue, with the headline “Depression: It’s time to talk”.

While Stormzy claims he had been approached to appear in the magazine in the past, he told fans on Twitter he’d declined, but has now found himself front and center on the cover.

“You lot know I don’t rant or open my mouth up for no reason but serious @NME magazine are the biggest bunch of sly, foul PAIGONS (liars),” he tweeted.

“They’ve used me on their cover without my permission. Depression is a very very sensitive issue and it’s something I’ve spoken about it is a subject that isn’t the easiest thing to speak about. And I’ve been careful in how I’ve dealt with it in the media

“However using my face as a poster boy for it to sell your magazine is so foul and below the belt I will never respect you lot.”

During his rant 23-year-old Stormzy argued that it’s solely up to him to put his name to a campaign, no matter how good the cause is.

When fans pointed out the article may help others going through similar situations Stormzy, who documented his battle with depression on acclaimed debut studio album Gang Signs & Prayer, was quick to hit back.

“I KNOW it will help others but just imagine a personal battle of yours being published on the front of a magazine without your permission,” he fumed. “And for those saying @NME done this with no bad intent, they know exactly what they’re doing. They couldn’t get me on the cover so done this.”

He also tweeted a link to the journalist responsible for the article, telling him: “And STOP acting like you lot done this to “break the stigma” or help anyone you done this to shift copies.”

NME’s editor Mike Williams has now responded, replying directly to Stormzy’s tweets to apologize, but he defended the magazine’s decision to go ahead with the cover.

“I’m sorry that you didn’t know your image would be our cover. Our intentions were only positive…

“We were inspired by your words and wanted to use them as a springboard to talk about depression and how it shouldn’t be taboo.”

He added his team had spoken with charities CALM and YoungMinds to make sure the advice they were giving was accurate, and said Stormzy was chosen to front the issue as they felt he would “resonate most” with readers.

The NME Twitter account still has a link up to the original story.