14 DAY TRIAL // Rapper T.I. has recently come under serious fire in the media from various groups after telling Vibe magazine that he believed the behavior of some gays was completely un-American. Speaking with TMZ, he explains the comment, saying it was taken out of context.
In the Vibe interview, T.I. was trying to say that, just as gay people have the right to voice their opinion, the same should apply to anti-gays.
When the former prevent the latter from speaking their mind in a public forum on the grounds of homophobia, one of the basic American principles is being violated, that of the freedom of speech, he said.
After getting serious flack for his comments, T.I. called in on TMZ Live to say that his words were taken out of context: he didn't say gays are un-American, he said some of their actions are so.
“It's a lot of attention being cast upon such a small part of the interview, I was really just laughing out loud at a joke that I heard Tracy Morgan say,” the rapper said during the interview, as the video below will confirm.
“I believe that you have the right to do whatever you want to do as long as you're not hurting anyone else. I was quoted correctly, but I was taken out of context,” he stressed.
“I'm not saying that being gay is being un-American. I was saying to use whatever power or authority [you have] to shut people down because they don't agree with you that's not what America was built upon. The institution allows us to speak out peacefully and respectfully in opposition of any point or any topic that comes up,” T.I. added.
While he's not against same-gender marriage, he believes that those who are should be allowed to freely state their opinion, on the same grounds that allow champions for it to speak their mind.
He also said that the African American community acts in the same way as well: black people are oversensitive on certain issues and often forget that, in being so, they are literally forcing others from freely speaking their mind.
Check out his full explanation below.
