“I was talking down to you guys. I apologize for how I expressed my idea,” Caesar said. “Because that is where I went wrong. I believe in what I said. A real man can admit when he’s wrong. I can admit when I’m wrong.”
WARNING: This story contains graphic language.
Canadian singer Daniel Caesar is apologizing for his controversial comments about race last week.
During an Instagram Live video last week, Caesar told his black audience that “being a victim doesn’t get you paid.”
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“Are there black people in this chat right now?” Caesar asked. “Why are we being so mean to white people right now? That’s a serious question.”
The Get You singer went back on Instagram Live Sunday night to apologize for the delivery of his message.
“There was no one there to challenge my ideas. That’s also dangerous. That’s why it’s tyrannical. It was a tyrannical rant. Because a tyrant doesn’t have people around checking him,” he continued.
“And my friends, when we disagree on something we check each other. But we agreed in that sentiment…but we feel so strongly about it that we didn’t realize how harsh we were coming off.”
He continued: “Honestly I’m glad this happened because I feel like I’m coming full circle. This sh*t has been hurting me so I feel like I’m stronger because of this. This is hurting my ego right now — I don’t like apologizing because I feel like I’ve been doing it for so long.”
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Caesar’s original comments trended on Twitter last week with many people “cancelling” the singer for trying to defend his friend, YezJulz, a white woman who has found herself at the centre of racial controversy a number of times.
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YesJulz recently appeared on the Easily Offended podcast and spoke about the time she posted a picture of a “N*gg*s lie a lot” T-shirt, asking if she should wear it to a festival.
She went on to rant about black women such as Scottie Beam and Karen Civil explaining to her that actions exploit black culture for her own gain and she tried to defend herself from accusations of being a “culture vulture.”
Caesar weighed in on how social media users were treating the controversial online personality YezJulz after she had publicly criticized Civil and Beam.
“Why are we being so mean to Julz?” he said. “Why are we being so mean to white people right now? That’s a serious question. Why is it that we’re allowed to be disrespectful and rude to everybody else and when anybody returns any type of energy to us… That’s not equality. I don’t wanna be treated like I can’t take a joke.”
(WARNING: This video contains explicit language.)
He continued: “White people have been mean to us in the past. What are you gonna do about that? Tell me what you’re gonna do about that. There’s no answer other than creating understanding and keeping it moving. That’s some biblical sh*t. You have to bridge the gap.
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“Are we winning right now as a culture? Are we popular in society? We’re not. And you can’t win the game by choosing to not accept the winning team’s strategy.”
Caesar went on to say that “being a victim doesn’t get you paid.” He urged anyone who wanted to “cancel” him due to his comments to discontinue listening to his music.
“I’ve said what I’ve said before and y’all tried to cancel me and I apologized like a b*tch,” he said. “I don’t believe in that sh*t because I think you guys are wrong and I’m right.”
“Don’t listen to my next sh*t if you think I’m sh*t,” he said. “Make me broke. Make me suffer for my opinion. I believe in it.”
Activist DeRay Mckesson said that he was able to connect with Caesar.
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“I spoke w/ Daniel Caesar yesterday morning for a few hours as I was troubled by many of his statements from the IG video. In the end, it is clear that he’s learning & growing re: understanding *systemic* racism & has more work to do. & he has begun to do that work,” Mckesson tweeted.
“We had a frank convo about how his statements disappointed many, reinforced a set of beliefs that did not aid the work of racial equity, & highlighted opportunities to learn,” McKesson said on March 21. “We were both pushed in the convo & it was good. I look forward to seeing him continue to reflect/grow.”