Doja Cat has responded to the backlash of a selfie she took in which an alleged Neo-Nazi featured on her shirt.
Speaking to Ebro Darden for a new interview with Apple Music, the rapper responded to a question about “the T-shirt incident”, referring to a photo she uploaded to Instagram in October.
On her shirt was a picture of Sam Hyde, a comedian who founded the comedy group Million Dollar Extreme, and initially gained notoriety for a spoof Ted Talk skit and Adult Swim sketch show. The show was cancelled after one season in 2016 after Buzzfeed reported Adult Swim allegedly found several coded racist messages in the show, including swastikas. However, when asked whether he was part of the alt-right in 2016, he responded: “Is that some sort of indie book store?”
Initially, the rapper took the photo down. However, in the interview, Doja Cat has further responded, saying: “You can’t know everything”. She went on to describe the person on her shirt as “somebody who I thought was funny”, disputing the idea that the shirt was harmful: “It’s not an attack.”
“It didn’t affect the world in a way where we have to look behind our backs,” she said. “Me saying that right now, I’m gonna get a lot of responses of people saying ‘yes it did, it’s going to change everything'”. Doja talks about the shirt incident around eight minutes into the video:
Doja Cat also admitted that “I’m way too fucking famous – 100%”, saying she was “doing whatever I can, slowly but surely, to separate myself from this narrative, or whatever this world is that I built – I’m fine-tuning it and tailoring it to what I want out of it.”
The ‘Scarlet’ star further said she believed fans would know that “I don’t put any effort or involvement into whatever the fuck that negative ass shit was.”
“I’m more just, ‘funny guy on T-shirt, wore it that day,'” she continued.
“But I don’t need to explain myself, I don’t,” she added. “I don’t prove myself to a bunch of people who are just gonna project – no matter what I say, too.”
“There are people who are incredibly dogmatic. It doesn’t matter what the fuck you do, what you say, they’re always gonna stand by: ‘That person’s evil.'”
Doja Cat recently announced she was embarking on a European leg of her ‘Scarlet’ world tour. Tickets went on general sale yesterday – get any remaining ones here.
The rapper is also headlining Poland’s Open’er Festival and the Lisbon edition of Rock in Rio. Get tickets for Open’er here and Rock in Rio here.
The post Doja Cat responds to backlash against wearing a T-shirt with an alleged Neo-Nazi on it: “I don’t need to explain myself” appeared first on NME.
