Fans Are Accusing Drake of Asking a Woman to Remove Her Hijab at a Concert
Though Drake will reportedly be absent from the Grammy Awards (for which he received a minor snub) this Sunday night thanks to a tour date in Manchester, he’s certainly making his fair share of headlines this weekend, anyway — though mayyyybeee not in the way he might have hoped.
JLo’s new boy toy reportedly ticked off a whole slew of fans after a video surfaced from a concert in London, in which he can be heard asking a fan to take off one of her layers of clothing — namely, a scarf. “I see you four girls right there, I hope you having a good time, you got on that hot a** scarf right there, you want to take off,” he says.
Drake is under some heat & being accused of Islamphobia after he told a girl to take off her hijab during his Boy Meets World tour pic.twitter.com/5qrLAEd55S
— Lee Harvey Oswald (@MusikFan4Life) February 9, 2017
Innocent enough, right? Not if rumors are to believed that the woman in question was actually not wearing a scarf at all, but a Muslim hijab — OOF.
Needless to say, fans were quick to jump on the musician, raking him over the coals for his insensitive words, Betsy DeVos style.
Did Drake really tell a girl to take her hijab off cause Idk how I feel about him now
— Aliyah. (@Aliyvh__) February 6, 2017
Did you guys see that @Drake told a Muslimah to take her Hijab off? #muslim #muslimgirl #girl #hijab #hijabi #drake #TheFuckery
— Mahida (@Mahidashire) February 6, 2017
so drake told girls to take off their hijab at his concert and referred to it as "shit". This Yahudi big Mess. Please Father your daughters.
— مشكلة (@992till) February 3, 2017
Others were slightly more skeptical, however, pointing out that the video didn’t actually show the woman or a hijab, and that there may very well be more to the story.
Everyone's jumping to conclusions and hating on Drake, but where is the proof the girl was wearing a hijab? I'm sure there's more to this. https://t.co/MQfzDtOowK
— AYESHA (@ayeshamirza_) February 10, 2017
Now, Drake himself is having his say, posting the following statement to Instagram.
“I make a point every night to end my shows on tones of unity and love, so to find out that I am being utilized in a fake media story about me disrespecting Mulims is devastating to me. At my show in the 02 in London I was talking to four women, one of whom was wearing a jacket and a winter scarf, I made a comment about taking off the scarf because I enjoy friendly banter with the fans. I am well aware of what a hijab is and I would never make a disprectful comment like that in my life towards someone who is wearing one. I am proud that my closest friends and fans come from all different religions and races. Perhaps whoever made up this story should spend more time learning about other cultures and less time trying to divide us.”
Well, there you have it folks: No harm, no foul, at least not without further proof!
Do you think this was all one big misunderstanding? Tell us over @BritandCo.
(h/t E!, photos via Andrew Benge + Gabe Ginsberg/Getty)