Rapper Post Malone apologized Thursday for a video of him riding around Las Vegas in a Humvee decked out with a mounted machine gun.
Many people said it was insensitive of the 22-year-old rapper, whose real name is Austin Richard Post, to do in a city where a gunman in October killed 58 people, making it the deadliest shooting in US history.
Christie Stevens, an adult film star, tweeted for girls at the Adult Entertainment Expo, where Malone had been spotted, to avoid him because of the video.
Hey girls @AEexpo thinking @PostMalone is cool, think again. Seriously tide pods now this guy. #VegasStrong https://t.co/OlTsSZKi5X
And some people in the replies to his video weren't happy.
@PostMalone After the 2017 Vegas Shooting, seems in bad taste to parade around the city with a massive gun... I gue… https://t.co/huBqa8LQif
"There was a shooting in Vegas recently and your [sic] driving around with a massive gun. Idiot," one person tweeted.
@PostMalone There was a shooting in vegas recently and your driving around with a massive gun. Idiot
"I enjoy his music but this is nonsense," another said.
@TheDean135 @PostMalone Seriously bro? You don’t think seeing a civilian driving a fucking machine gun down the ro… https://t.co/qrmHVByncd
Malone replied to Stevens that "the gun isn't even real y'all. ... never thought anyone would assume that i was being disrespectful."
Battlefield Vegas, a firing range in Las Vegas dedicated to large weapons, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
@iluvchristie @Bieberftmalone @PeepPosty @AEexpo the gun isn't even real y'all. i was at battlefield vegas and they… https://t.co/q2rnMLmi37
But not everyone was mad: "I'm in the military and I'm not offended. You keep doing you fam."
@PostMalone @PostMalone I’m in the military and I’m not offended. You keep doing you fam.
"i will sleep well tonight knowing post malone is protecting me"
i will sleep well tonight knowing post malone is protecting me https://t.co/yYVk7zo5RX
Others came to Post Malone's defense: "Don't read into everything so much."
@ryculley @PostMalone Oh no. Here I am just scrolling through Twitter, and I WAS OFFENDED!!!! Let me go take everyt… https://t.co/2v8nwqbA4O
The day after the video, Post Malone apologized on Twitter, saying, "honestly, never meant to offend anybody. i apologize if i did. had no bad intentions. got offered a ride in the humvee and took it."
honestly, never meant to offend anybody. i apologize if i did. had no bad intentions. got offered a ride in the humvee and took it. -posty
But wait, there's more!
The backlash and apology came on the same day as a profile of the rapper appeared in GQ. In it, he said: "I definitely feel like there's struggle being a white rapper. I don't want to be a rapper. I want to be a person that makes music."
As of Thursday, his song "Rockstar" was No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Commence more backlash:
This whole convo is tired but stop making rap music if it’s so hard for you. @PostMalone
"Didn't you just score a #1 hit?????"
Didn’t you just score a #1 Hit???????? https://t.co/KoKuNwRvIC
“Post Malone: says it’s a struggle being a white rapper”
But as with the Humvee backlash, some people defended the remark: "I don't blame @PostMalone for speaking on what he spoke on."
I don’t blame @PostMalone speaking on what he spoke on. It was ok for niki to moan about 8 of the top 10 artists on… https://t.co/QK5QpipkNj
"If I see 1 more person slander Post Malone I swear I'll have this man attack you"
If I see 1 more person slander post Malone I swear I’ll have this man attack you
Including the author of the profile, Bijan Stephen.
Stephen, an editor for Vox, wrote on Twitter, "i think i'm a Post Malone stan sorry." Stephen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
i think i’m a Post Malone stan sorry https://t.co/P7rY7YPTRJ
"(yes, we talked about his relationship to blackness / whiteness)."
(yes, we talked about his relationship to blackness / whiteness)
He continued:
CORRECTION
Christie Stevens' name was misspelled in an earlier version of this post.