Iggy Cancels Gay Pride Show After Backlash

Bad news for Iggy Azalea fans in Pittsburgh. The Australian rapper has canceled yet another performance, after canceling her entire Great Escape arena tour that was supposed to take place this year. And this time, backlash played a role in her decision to cancel. Iggy Azalea canceled her performance at a Pittsburgh gay pride event after receiving backlash from the gay community.

The "Fancy" performer's expected appearance at the gay pride event caused controversy due to some now-deleted tweets she allegedly wrote a few years ago. Said tweets reportedly included, "When guys whisper in each others ears I always think its kinda homo" and "Wondered why my butt felt like it was about to grow legs, flip me off & walk away. then I remembered i played soccer yestrdy w 5 dyke bitches."

When some members of the LGBTQ community dug up these alleged comments, petitions against Azalea's appearance at the show began. And on June 8, the 25-year-old took to Twitter to deliver her cancellation news, as well as to address past controversial comments, in a message to Pittsburgh fans in which she apologized to anyone who she offended. (She doesn't say in her apology specifically what the comments were.)

It is good that she is acknowledging the harm that could be caused by words. But one sentence in Azalea's statement could have easily been left out: "The last thing I want is for something so carelessly said to be interpreted as reflective of my character."

As can be seen above, most of the rapper's apology statement is pretty solid material. It takes guts to admit wrongdoing when you are in the public sphere, and it is worth applauding Azalea for not only saying sorry but also acknowledging that using derogatory words can really work against the gay community's fight for equality. It seems like she understands the concept of personal intention not changing the impact that her alleged words can have on others, which is a positive step in the right direction. And it seems like she made the decision with those who have been hurt in mind, seeing as she said she did not want to distract from the "true purpose" of the event.

But with the statement she makes about her reported comments being "reflective of my character," it sort of works against the rest of the message in a way. This veers the apology toward focusing on the type of person that she is, rather than maintaining a focus on a larger social issues. After all, the fight for equality is much larger than one rapper's performance at a show, and this bigger issues has nothing to do with the rapper's reputation. It is important that she realizes that moving forward. Thankfully, it looks like she is onto a good start.