A gossip blog recently questioned if rapper Lil Nas X had played up his “gay image for clout and fame.” The 22-year-old star recently celebrated the release of his first album, Montero, but now some, including this site and a little-known comedian, claim he came out in an attempt to cash in on a gay image, but he and his team are now working on updating his image. We investigated the story and can explain what’s going on.
Is Lil Nas X “No Longer” Gay?
MediaTakeOut ran an article with the incredibly laid-back title “EXPLOSIVE: Rapper Lil Nas X Is ‘NO LONGER’ Gay!!” Since coming out in summer 2019, Lil Nas X, real name Montero Hill, has become possibly the most famous openly gay rapper in history, the site noted.
Now that legacy has been abandoned, it continued, now that the rapper “may no longer wish to identify as ‘gay.’” The site insisted that he and his team are actively working to change his image into one of a “straight man.” Lil Nas X supposedly gave fans a sneak peek at his “new identity” over the weekend when he tweeted, “this gay [expletive] was fun at first. I miss [expletive] now,” with the second expletive being a coarse term for female genitalia.
MTO News went on to claim that there have “long been rumors around music circles” that Lil Nas X is bisexual and prefers women, but that he “played up his ‘gay’ image for clout and fame.” Bizarrely, the site also included a VLAD TV YouTube video of comedian TK Kirkland spouting off a similar theory that Lil Nas X is secretly straight, but decided to pretend to be gay to achieve greater fame.
Kirkland does not appear to know Lil Nas X personally or professionally, and probably has never even met the younger, more successful man. At first, Kirkland appeared in the video to be joking about Lil Nas X’s sexuality and laughs as he spouts the ridiculous theory. Then the video takes an uncomfortable turn at the end when Kirkland’s laughter dries up and he seriously states that because Lil Nas does not act “effeminate,” then he’s not gay.
What’s Going On
Of course, this rumor is total nonsense. Excluding the eye-rollingly absurd theory from a little known “comedian,” whose views on what constitutes as “gay” deserves a place in a museum for antiquated, out of date, and overwhelmingly wrong opinions, the only “evidence” of Lil Nas X’s alleged change in identity comes from a single tweet from the rapper, where he’s joking. Eight minutes after sending the original tweet, he retweeted it with this tongue-in-cheek comment, “nevermind he texted back.”
This isn’t the first time MTO News has written an outlandish story about Lil Nas X’s identity. Last year, after the rapper dressed up as one of his idols, Nicki Minaj, for Halloween, the site ran a story claiming he’d come out as transgender. This site doesn’t know how costumes, or jokes, work.