S. Samuel
New York rapper A$AP Rocky is the latest celebrity to react to the news of NBA player Jason Collins coming out of the closet about his sexuality this week.
Proud of Collins’ decision, Rocky compared his announcement to R&B singer Frank Ocean revealing his bisexuality last summer.
“That’s his business,” Rocky said in an interview. “I respect men more for coming out. People joke on Frank Ocean a lot but at least he’s not out here fronting. It’s a lot of people, a lot of motherf*ckers be out here, they be the closet motherf*ckers, you know? I don’t respect them. I respect gay men who identify it and who are out with it. I don’t have a problem with gay people at all. So it’s like, that’s his business. It don’t concern me. Number one, I barely get to watch basketball like that as it is. Number two, I don’t even know who this n*gga is that you talking about. Dead a**. He probably has ten times more money than me but I don’t know who he is. We got the Frank Ocean of the NBA now who came out and did what he had to do. Shout-outs to him.” (KYSDC)
A few days ago, Collins’ ex-fiancée admitted she never knew about his interest in men.
Carolyn Moos (who played a few seasons in the WNBA) dated Collins for seven years and was engaged to him until they broke up in 2009 … after Collins pulled the plug on their wedding. Carolyn tells TMZ, she never once suspected he was gay, so the news is shocking. She says Collins eventually revealed everything last weekend — just days before his big announcement — and said that his homosexuality was the real reason he ended things with her. (TMZ)
Jason publicly came out in an exclusive Sports Illustrated feature earlier in the week.
“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay. I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.” If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand. My journey of self-discovery and self-acknowledgement began in my hometown of Los Angeles and has taken me through two state high school championships, the NCAA Final Four and the Elite Eight, and nine playoffs in 12 NBA seasons.” (Sports Illustrated)
A few weeks ago, Rocky ironed out speculation of him standing up for gay rights.
“I’m not a gay rights activist,” A$AP clarified in an interview. “I guess because one day an interviewer asked me, ‘How do you feel about gay people,’ and I just honestly said, ‘I don’t care what they do.’ Everybody just took it [to another level]. It’s not that serious. I’m not no gay rights activist. They humans like everybody else. Why everybody keep talking about that? … I don’t want that to be a thing that everybody keeps asking me. I don’t care what straight people do, I don’t care what gay people do. I don’t care what nobody do. That’s they business. I just care about what I do. You know what I’m saying? … I’m not no gay rights activist. I don’t know what it takes to treat gay people right and what rights they don’t have. All I know is when you say certain things about gay people, people go crazy, like, act homophobic and that’s how it used to be and that’s how I used to be but I’m not like that anymore. If you’re gay, that’s your business. I really don’t care, at all. It’s like, I’m tired of them asking me about this gay [stuff]. It’s getting on my nerves, quite frankly.” (106 KMEL)
Check out A$AP Rocky’s interview:
