Ari Lennox has vowed to not do interviews after she was asked a question about her sex life by South African podcaster MacGyver “MacG” Mukwevho.
During a recent episode of the host’s Podcast and Chill show, Lennox sat down for an interview that quickly got uncomfortable. The two discussed her early single “Pop,” an explicit track about determining someone’s intentions after sleeping with them.
“And where are we at right now?” asked MacG. “Is someone fucking you good right now?”
Lennox recoiled and made it clear she didn’t appreciate the explicit tone.
“Oh my god,” she said. “That’s a wild question. Why ask it that way? Whoa.”
Shortly after the interview started to make waves online, Lennox indirectly addressed the situation and explained how it made her feel.
“I’m just like…why was I alone on a call full of people? Why didn’t anyone intervene?” she wrote in a string of tweets on Friday. “And why wasn’t parts of the interview destroyed like the team promised? Why did it happen to begin with? I just feel slow and ambushed and blindsighted. Just because I happily and freely sing/write about sex don’t make any kind of creepy disrespect warranted. I clearly was in immense shock and hate that I didn’t react differently.”
Despite the “creepy” nature of the experience, Ari said she doesn’t want people to feel “sorry” for her. “I’m tired of the narrative,” she wrote. “Exhausted. I’m good I promise. But as for interviews I’m not doing them anymore. There’s enough lives and interviews out there already. … I’ve been my most happiest creating music and exploring life sober. I’m not allowing anything to tamper with my peace anymore.”
Lennox also took the time to address one user who suggested that she was faking her sexuality.
“There’s definitely nothing fake about my gay thanks,” she wrote.
After addressing the MacG situation, Ari Lennox later called out Twitter users suggesting she brought the inappropriate question on herself, then said she’ll never visit South Africa. “Really got grown men justifying rape and predatory culture. Disgusting,” she tweeted.
One individual said Ari “thinks we gonna be hurt if she doesn’t come,” but she insisted in her reply it’s out of concern for her own safety. “Tired of being fucking sweet. Fuck everybody,” she continued.
