Lil Nas X opened up about why he came out when he did on WorldPride day earlier this year, explaining on a recent episode of an HBO talk show that he grew up hating homosexuality and wanted to change that for others.
On Tuesday, HBO aired an episode of “The Shop: Uninterrupted” featuring the artist alongside Maverick Carter, Kevin Hart, Rob Gronkowski, Kevin Love, CJ McCollum, Charlamagne tha God and Paul Rivera. In a clip that has since gone viral on Twitter, McCollum asked the “Old Town Road” singer why he came out when he did.
Hart then interjected mid-question to say, “He said he was gay! So what!”
The 20-year-old said, “It’s not like I was being forced. It’s just like knowing growing up, I’m growing up to hate this shit. I’m not supposed ―” Hart interrupted again to ask, “Hate what? Why? Why are you growing up to hate?”
“Homosexuality, gay people,” said Lil Nas X, before pointedly saying to Hart, “Come on now, if you’re really from the hood you know.”
The Georgia native went on to say that he saw it like this: “If for me, the ‘cool dude with the song on top of everything,’ to say this at any other time, I’m doing this for attention ... But if you’re doing this while you’re at the top, you know it’s for real. It’s showing it doesn’t really matter, I guess.”
Many on Twitter lambasted Hart for his outburst during the exchange, because of his own history of anti-gay jokes and tweets. Many specifically accused the comedian of gaslighting Lil Nas X: