Kehlani has further addressed an interview that they say “felt like a mockery.”
The conversation took place on The Morning Hustle, when Kehlani—who has said in the past that they prefer using they/them pronouns, but also use she/her—was referred to as “she” multiple times, asked if they’d “scissor” a friend in the music industry, and was ultimately spoken to in what people are calling a distasteful manner.
Hosts of the show accused Kehlani of being “cold and distant,” and not speaking “to anybody in the room” when they walked in. One of the show’s hosts, Lore’l, said they don’t “play around” with “things like” pronouns. But the R&B star—who just released their latest album Blue Water Road—felt like they were being mocked on the program.
“I didn’t come any earlier than I was supposed to,” they wrote in a later Instagram comment, per The Neighborhood Talk. “I had just finished Yung Joc’s radio show, really good energy… I def said hi to everyone. I sat down and immediately OD’ing with the [pronouns] felt like a mockery. Every time I started to open up [about] something, shit came… Asked me if I was scissoring my friend, asked me if I ever heard of my own girlfriend, and much more… I sat through the entire interview really embarrassed and still only said ‘no more interviews’ after.”
Kehlani clarified that they’ve “done really amazing beautiful interviews the entire week and even that morning right before,” but that “every single person that came in with me felt how wrong all of it was.”
“I did my best while protecting my energy and being mocked to my face,” Kehlani wrote.
The singer has previously opened up about the Saturday interview earlier in the week, as it continued to trend for a few days. On their Instagram Stories, Kehlani explained that before the interview—in which they were asked if they’d “scissor” with SZA—they had felt “bubbly, warm, informative, and open” with interviewers, but the Hustle show was “cringey, a lot of mockery, and invasive as fuck.”
“I was gonna remain quiet. Every other recent interview has been super bubbly, warm, informative, and open. From start to finish, this interview was cringey, a lot of mockery and invasive as f*ck,” Kehlanu wrote in an Instagram story.
“This is why your favorite artists always stop doing interviews or people don’t want to speak anymore,” they wrote. “I’m only speaking to [a] select few folks anymore who really care about me deeply and have always been in my corner.”
Blue Water Road, Kehlani’s third studio LP which features guest appearances from Justin Bieber, Thundercat, Syd, and more, serves as a proper follow-up to 2020’s It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, and is now available to stream.
