Ari Lennox is no stranger to taking to some form of video to voice her thoughts — and Gayle King's interview with Lisa Leslie was no exception.
On Thursday, the "Bussit" singer opined on the notorious interview and is now apologizing, kind of. Lennox gave her two cents on King pressuring Leslie on the legacy of her late friend, Kobe Bryant.
"F**k Gayle and f**k Oprah. Y'all are some self-hating pieces of sh*t f**k asses," she said. "I have never seen a coon more f**king coonier than got damn kale and okra. I'm over y'all. I don't give a f**k how rich y'all are, how much you f**king accomplish. Y'all are tearing down the legacies of so many phenomenal beautiful Black men and I don't f**king have time for it."
Ari Lennox really just ended Oprah and Gayle King. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/NFXTWLgZ5P
— BLH (@_DefinedByMyOwn) February 6, 2020
"I'm sick. I'm disgusted. You don't care about Black people. Okra I knew you wasn't s**t when kids was trying to take a picture with you and she said 'Ooh I see your little crack phone,'" she continued in the video.
Fans were left confused about who the singer was talking about directly when she mentioned Winfrey and King attempting to tear "down the legacies of so many phenomenal beautiful Black men." Although she didn't explicitly state the Black men she was referring to, she left many fans believing she was referring to Bill Cosby and Russell Simmons who have both been involved in sexual assault allegations.
Her sentiments didn't sit well with some of her fans, leading her to eventually apologize for her ambiguous comments.
On Saturday, she tweeted a lengthy blog post apologizing to people she "genuinely" hurt while standing confidently in her statements.
"I swear to god i be meaning well. I’m not the most structured when i start talking and that has been a blessing and curse. I’ve grown too comfortable with viewing my supporters as my bestie that I can freely vent to with no repercussions," she wrote. "I made it very clear who specifically I was talking about but Carry on with your misconstrued judgement of me."
"I’m not out here trying to protect toxic individuals. That’s not what I believe i did," she wrote.
This made me look at Ari Lennox differently. She said "legacies of Black men" who legacies? Billy cosby, R Kelly, who else? This reeks of rape apologist buffoonery. A shame. https://t.co/a9an5wsyJL
— Jason (One Piece fan) (@EscaflowneClown) February 7, 2020
defending black men who are rapists as some sort of racial solidarity really isn’t the hill anyone should be dying on. ari lennox is embarrassing
— foyin ???? (@foyinog) February 7, 2020
oh no…@AriLennox sis, you should absolutely care more about the victims of any kind of abuse, r*pe, & sexual assault than the “legacy” of black men who have done these things. their reputation is not more important than the truth/victims just bc they’re black men.
— e. (@saturnsirenita) February 6, 2020
While the artist herself has been the victim of cyberbullying, she directly addressed not needing the support of Black men in order to defend them.
"I’m sorry for triggering people and I’m sorry if I caused any trauma. Im sorry for victim shaming, swear that wasn’t my intent," her post read. "Also I don’t need black men to stick up for me in order to do what I know is right in my heart and that’s speak up if I feel people are being distasteful towards them. Same goes for black women especially!"
Despite her in-depth blog post, the "Shea Butter Baby" was dragged on Twitter for her "awful" apology and for bashing Winfrey and King.
Ari Lennox's apology is so awful. It sounds like some shit my mom would say. "You knew that wasn't my intent. I'm sorry for talking, I'll never talk again if thats what you want" NO. u need to acknowledge that you were wrong and thats just it
— fuck a you basard (@hoetentiial) February 9, 2020
All jokes aside you won't ever catch me caping for Ari Lennox ever again. I'm tired
— Lex (@pollyswrld) February 7, 2020
Ari Lennox’s “apology” is so funny to me because it was exactly like this pic.twitter.com/dT6OGtA1ch
— VENUSIAN VIXEN (@LAPERLASLUT) February 9, 2020
Amid all of the backlash, the 28-year-old clarified her apology.
"My apology was towards people I genuinely hurt and traumatized. My apology was for how I worded everything and how I disrespected people in trying to get my opinion across," Lennox wrote on Monday. "But my opinion will always remain. I am not 'running away' I just rather not speak on anything anymore."
My apology was towards people I genuinely hurt and traumatized. My apology was for how I worded everything and how I disrespected people in trying to get my opinion across. But my opinion will always remain. I am not “running away” I just rather not speak on anything anymore.
— Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) February 10, 2020
She then decided to log off.
Now I’m officially logging off. I said what I said. Shit is clear. We in the studio all week. Peace and love ❤️
— Ari Lennox (@AriLennox) February 10, 2020
Lennox wasn't the only music artist to face backlash after giving input on the CBS This Morning interview. Snoop Dogg also came under fire after going on a misogynistic rant against King and threatening to "come get her" if she didn't "back off."