Wale has allegedly backed out of an agreement to perform at a D.C. Black Pride show on May 30 .
Reports indicate that the rapper may have backed out because the event was for a gay pride organization. Earl Fowlkes, board member and spokesperson for Black Pride, revealed that he received two emails from Wale’s agent – one which said that the rapper had to cancel due to family obligations, and the second that stated Wale didn’t know the event was gay-related one.
“We were clear about what kind of event this is,” explained Fowlkes. “After doing this for 20 years, we certainly don’t want to put ourselves and the artist in an uncomfortable situation by not telling them what we are.
“We’re Black Gay Pride, and the people coming out there are members of our community,” he said. “We made that very clear.”
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Fowlkes says that although Wale’s agent has refunded the advance fee for the show, the group is considering legal action for breach of contract.
“What was important to us on our 20th year is we really wanted to break some new ground,” said Fowlkes. “And one of the things we wanted was a male back artist. We always had female artists and we’ve never really had a male black heterosexual identified artist.”
Jeffrey Richardson, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club and one of the local black LGBT leaders scheduled to be honored at this year’s Black Pride events, says that the cancellation was “pure homophobia on [Wale’s] part.”
Wale briefly responded to the accusations via his Twitter account (@Wale). “When me and flex was out trinidad doin the toy drive where was nbc? When me n raheem did the toy drive in pg where was thew news? the ppl aint dumb,” he posted. “I’m glad yall can see what’s goin on..propaganda at its finest…everything I’ve done for the communities. Never asked for no pub..”
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More on this story as it develops.
