Madonna is catching heat for her attempt to insert herself into the discussion surrounding Lil Nas X‘s same-sex kiss at the BET Awards this past weekend — but Lil Nas X himself isn’t bothered.
After the “Montero” rapper kissed one of his male backup dancers onstage, Madonna posted a photo of the moment to her Instagram stories side by side with the moment she kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. She hashtagged the post “#diditfirst.”
Fans were quick to point out that comparing Madonna’s smooch to Lil Nas X’s kiss isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples. As one Twitter user put it, “Madonna – a straight white woman – kissing another white woman does not compare to Lil Nas X – a gay black man – kissing a black man live on the fkn BET Awards.”
The Diet Prada Instagram account noted, “white women kissing on a public platform as you did at the 2003 VMAs is hardly as revolutionary as Black queer men doing so. White cis het people have always been given the space to do whatever they please…including, but not limited to queerbaiting.”
But on Wednesday, Lil Nas X chimed in on the controversy.
“Me and Madonna are friends,” he tweeted. “It’s just a joke.”
Meanwhile, Lil Nas X received some praise from Michael Jackson’s daughter; his performance on the BET Awards paid homage to the King of Pop’s “Remember the Time” video.
Paris Jackson tweeted that Nas “absolutely f***** killed it,” adding, “you have all of my support, legend.”
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