Following the release of his red-hot music video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X isn’t holding back when it comes to responding to haters on Twitter.
The video — which dropped on March 25 and is already trending No. 1 on YouTube — features the “Old Town Road” singer pole dancing into hell and giving the devil a lap dance, which has caused backlash from conservative groups.
Alongside a video of Lil Nas X performing at an elementary school, one user wrote: “The system is targeting kids. Lil Nas X’s fanbase is mostly children. They did the same thing with Miley Cyrus after Hannah Montana.”
Lil Nas X then responded to the tweet, writing: “There was no system involved. I made the decision to create the music video. I am an adult. I am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. That is your job.”
there was no system involved. i made the decision to create the music video. i am an adult. i am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. that is your job. https://t.co/SzjjYe2tf4
— nope
(@LilNasX) March 27, 2021
Lil Nas X kept the comebacks coming in response to another since-deleted tweet, which claimed that Lil Nas X’s display of his sexuality is “destroying society.”
“There is a mass shooting every week that our government does nothing to stop,” Lil Nas X wrote. “Me sliding down a CGI pole isn’t what’s destroying society.”
there is a mass shooting every week that our government does nothing to stop. me sliding down a cgi pole isn’t what’s destroying society. https://t.co/H21SMVnfNQ
— nope
When the music video was released, Lil Nas X penned a heartfelt note to his younger self, in which he described his coming out journey. “I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be ‘that’ type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist,” he wrote.
— nope
Drawing upon that letter, Lil Nas X tweeted at the critics to “stay mad.”
“I spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the shit y’all preached would happen to me because I was gay,” Lil Nas X wrote. “So I hope u are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.”
i spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the shit y’all preached would happen to me because i was gay. so i hope u are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.
— nope
Despite the haters, Lil Nas X’s “Montero” video has also been met with love and support from the LGBTQ+ community.
In a column, Variety‘s Adam B. Vary praised the video, calling it monumental “to see a 21-year-old gay man express his sexuality on exactly the same terms — and at the same level of fame, success and media attention — his straight counterparts have enjoyed for decades.”
Watch the “Montero” video below.