Travis Scott found himself in the midst of some controversy ahead of the release of his third studio album, Astroworld, after it became clear NYC nightlife icon and model Amanda Lepore was removed from his album artwork.
On Wednesday (Aug. 1), both Scott and the artwork’s photographer, David LaChapelle, uploaded versions of the cover to their Instagram accounts — but Lepore was missing on the rapper’s version.
Saturday (Aug. 4), the rapper finally addressed the controversy with a statement on Twitter, stating that “EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO ASTROWORLD!” He explained that he was taught to accept everyone and that he has “nothing but respect” for the LGBTQ community. “I want to use my voice to make it clear that everyone on this planet is equal and f–king awesome to the next.”
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RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10 winner Aquaria, a friend of Lepore, didn’t buy Scott’s apology. She fired off a series of tweets, saying his statement read like “an apologist mad lib” and that she was “surprised he remembered to remove his publicist’s name from the bottom of that message.”
The drag superstar mocked Scott’s statement and questioned “if someone is upstaging something in the back of a picture, (that’s not even being used as the actual album cover, if I understand correctly) is the message that is implied because of their removal worth it in 2018? Or do we just love a controversy to grab a headline?”
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Aquaria also alluded to a video where Scott “spouted genuinely scary anti-LGBTQ trash” during a show in 2015. In the video, Scott is seen calling out audience members for not raging hard enough, saying “I ain’t cool with none of you f—-ts. You just sitting here looking like a bunch of queers.” Scott previously apologized for the incident in since-deleted tweets, saying “AT MY SHOWS I GET A LIL TURNT UP. SORRY FOR THAT BUT NEVER WILL I EVER DISRESPECT THAT COMMUNITY.” and “I HAVE NOTHING BUT RESPECT FOR LGBT COMMUNITY.”
Read Aquaria’s tweets about the incident below.
“–?– lol I’m an artist! I rly respect the LGBFAGT community! — David is cool! I’d never put that ****** on the cover but glad we included her in the booklet that no 1 will read that we had to reprint due to this unexpected controversy — thx 4 understanding queers! –?–” pic.twitter.com/svXTBau92Y
— Aquaria (@aquariaofficial) August 4, 2018
Surprised he remembered to remove his publicists name from the bottom of that message. Shit reads like an apologist mad lib — so right the first time and then u won’t need to create excuses.
— Aquaria (@aquariaofficial) August 4, 2018
Surprised he remembered to remove his publicists name from the bottom of that message. Shit reads like an apologist mad lib — so right the first time and then u won’t need to create excuses.
— Aquaria (@aquariaofficial) August 4, 2018
Also I’ve tried hard not to share that video of Travis spouting genuinely scary anti-LGBTQ trash from his stage despite everyone tagging me in it. That shit reminds me of moments in my (and others) life(s) that I(we) try not to be reminded of..
— Aquaria (@aquariaofficial) August 4, 2018
Also if someone is upstaging something in the back of a picture, (that’s not even being used as the actual album cover, if I understand correctly) is the message that is implied because of their removal worth it in 2018? Or do we just love a controversy to grab a headline?
— Aquaria (@aquariaofficial) August 4, 2018