Lil Nas X was forced to delete a tweet he posted yesterday to celebrate his first-ever Grammy after people who were still grieving the death of Kobe Bryant on social media criticized the tweet as disrespectful of the NBA star.
Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and several other people died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas on Sunday morning while traveling to basketball practice.
The news of the tragic deaths broke on Sunday morning before the Grammy Awards ceremony started at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the home venue of Bryant’s former team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lil Nax X (Montero Lamar Hill) was one of several celebs who took to Twitter on Sunday morning to react to the breaking news of Bryant’s tragic death.
He took to Twitter to express shock and disbelief when he first learned the news.
“WTFF Really hope this is a misunderstanding.”
WTFF REALLY HOPE THIS IS A MISUNDERSTANDING
— nope (@LilNasX) January 26, 2020
After he had received a confirmation of the sad news, he returned to Twitter to mourn with a photo of the late NBA star, captioned “rip:(.”
rip :( pic.twitter.com/9wL6OdSSlv
— nope (@LilNasX) January 26, 2020
Lil Nas X tweet: Backlash on Twitter
Lil Nas X took to Twitter shortly afterward to express his joy after winning the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for his Old Town Road, featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.
He wrote in his now-deleted tweet:
“Thank you to everybody!! I am now Grammy Award winning artist Lil Nas X.”
But the celebratory tweet, which came while people were still mourning the death of the former Los Angeles Lakers star on Twitter and Instagram, offended many.
The tweet generated an immediate backlash. Many Twitter users criticized Nas for the timing of his celebratory tweet, saying it was inappropriate.
Following the backlash, Nas deleted the tweet and replaced it with an apology.
“didn’t mean any disrespect to Kobe with that announcement. the news made me sad too! sending love to those grieving.”
didn’t mean any disrespect to kobe with that announcement. the news made me sad too! sending love to those grieving.
— nope (@LilNasX) January 26, 2020
Fans defend Lil Nas X
However, many Lil Nas X fans on Twitter came to his defense, saying that he did nothing wrong. They pointed out that he had already paid his respects to Bryant and argued that it was appropriate for him to celebrate because his Grammy wins represented major career milestones for him.
Y’all made Lil Nas X delete his tweets about him winning his first Grammy because of Kobe’s unfortunate death (rest in peace) despite Lil Nas X not knowing or ever meeting Kobe? So a young black gay man won a major award and y’all bullied him over it. Wow.
— Tommy Kenneth the 4th (@TommyKenneth98) January 26, 2020
You did nothing wrong, we understand you, and people with any modicum of sense weren’t mad. Congrats again:)
— ₁₂₇ #영웅 Hyundai Stan⁷ (@Duizhang_Jjigae) January 26, 2020
Lil Nas X tweeted in celebration of his Grammy win and some people are replying “who cares Kobe just died”
Yea it’s an extremely sad day for many, but let’s not try to take away from others’ celebration and happiness in the process
— Benjamin Frew (@KZ_Frew) January 26, 2020
lil nas x just won his first grammy ever and everyone is saying it’s inappropriate to post about it and hating on him bc kobe just died….???? the grammys are TODAY and he worked for this. don’t discredit someone else’s happiness bc of an unexpected tragedy
— Wiz Khalicia (@aliciiajohnson) January 26, 2020
You’re allowed to celebrate and mourn simultaneously
— Ta Vinci (@iHave3Testiclez) January 26, 2020
Lil Nas X won the Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Old Town Road.
Nas paid tribute to Bryant during his Grammys performance
The 20-year-old artist paid tribute to Kobe Bryant during his Grammys performance. While performing Old Town Road, he placed a Bryant 24 LA Lakers jersey on a chair beside him.
He performed Old Town Road with Billy Ray Cyrus and others, such as BTS, Diplo, and Mason Ramsey, who created their remixed versions of the song.
Lil Nas X begins his #GRAMMYs performance with a tribute to Kobe Bryant pic.twitter.com/c8ti7NRBI6
— MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) January 27, 2020
Lil Nax X was not the only artist who paid tribute to Bryant during the Grammy Awards Ceremony on Sunday at Staples Center.
Lizzo dedicated her performance of Cuz I Love You to Bryant, while Alicia Keys also paid tribute with a speech. Boyz 11 Men then joined Keys to perform an a capella version of their song, It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.