Rita Ora thought she had the song of the summer when she roped in Cardi B, Charlie XCX, and Bebe Rexa for her faux-lesbian single “Girls” — but she thought wrong.
Shortly after its debut, openly-gay singer Hayley Kiyoko took to social media to call out Rita & co. for the song’s harmful message in an open letter.
“It’s important for us artists to use our platforms to move the cultural needle forward, not backwards,” she began. “I fully support other artists who freely express themselves and applaud male and female artists who are opening up more and more about their sexual identities. But every so often there come certain songs with messaging that is just downright tone-deaf, which does more harm than good for the LGBTQ+ communities.”
Kehlani, who identifies as queer, co-signed Hayley’s message with a series of tweets.
every artist on the song is fantastic, and very much loved and supported by me… by all of us. but this isn’t about talent. it’s about choice.
— Kehlani (@Kehlani) May 11, 2018
hate to be THAT guy but there were many awkward slurs, quotes, and moments that were like “word? word”
— Kehlani (@Kehlani) May 11, 2018
and don’t make this personal.
i have an incredible song out with one of the artists, and would love to work with the other three as well. & have met them all and respect them.
there. were. harmful. lyrics.
period. love y’all. ?— Kehlani (@Kehlani) May 11, 2018
After being called out, Rita Ora apologized for the song.
— Rita Ora (@RitaOra) May 14, 2018
If you’re curious, you can listen to “Girls” below.
