Ari Lennox Swears Off Interviews & Visits To South Africa After Disrespectful Podcast Appearance
Y'all better stop playing with Ari!
Source: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty
Ari Lennox is so fed up after a run-in with podcaster MacGyver "MacG" Mukwevho that Complex reports she swore off interviews and ever visiting MacG's native country of South Africa. The R&B singer appeared on his Podcast and Chill show where a question about very sexy lyrics one of her songs called "Pop" turned into an ambush that left her feeling blindsided. "And where are we at right now? Is someone fucking you good right now?" MacG asked.
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The 30-year-old was obviously shocked and uncomfortable with the question while the host simply continued laughing. "Oh my god. Wow! That's a wild question," she said. Why ask it that way? Whoa." He brought up her own lyrics to justify coming at her sideways with that personal question. Despite the inappropriate turn, Ari tried to push through it and finish the interview like the professional she is. After the interview, the "Pressure" singer took to Twitter to share her frustration with the unacceptable situation.
"I'm just like...why was I alone on a call full of people? Why didn't anyone intervene?" she wrote on Friday. "And why wasn't parts of the interview destroyed like the team promised? Why did it happen to begin with? I just feel slow and ambushed and blindsighted. Just because I happily and freely sing/write about sex don't make any kind of creepy disrespect warranted. I clearly was in immense shock and hate that I didn't react differently."
Ari Lennox is going through that phase where you responded graceful to an uncomfortable situation and with time the reality of actually being sexualized hits you. You're not even sure if you were at fault or the person was really wrong and you're just confused & hurt
I hate men.
— XIX.I.XXXX?? (@SihleTumani) January 21, 2022
MacG is known for catching guests off-guard with controversial questions, but that doesn't mean Ari should have to put up with this kind of treatment. Although she is known for being down-to-earth and accessible, this moment was the last straw. After repeatedly getting trolled for her looks and even bullied online for enjoying her trip to Ghana, Ari is going the Beyoncé route and shutting down interviews for the foreseeable future.
"I'm tired of the narrative," she wrote. "Exhausted. I'm good I promise. But as for interviews I'm not doing them anymore. There's enough lives and interviews out there already. ... I've been my most happiest creating music and exploring life sober. I'm not allowing anything to tamper with my peace anymore."
Ari Lennox was uncomfortable with how invasive that interview was that she said she won't be doing more interviews. You don't see people asking Beyonce about her sex life because she has 1+1 or partition etc. You can ask people about their inspirations without being a prude.
— MPHO ?? (@MphoMoalamedi) January 21, 2022
This reasoning of how Ari Lennox can't feel violated by the MacG question bc she sings about sex is kinda the same as saying a woman can't feel violated by cat calling etc bc she wears revealing clothing out in public ??
— Big Strapper (@Liqhayiya_n) January 21, 2022
Publicly checking MacG and everyone involved in the interview wasn't enough. Ari called out everyone making comments that defended the disrespect. In response to a comment saying, "If you hate being treated like a piece of meat then stop marketing yourself as a butchery," she swore off ever stepping foot in the whole country. It sounds a bit extreme, but who wants to visit a country full of people telling you that you deserve to be sexually harassed or even worse for putting out songs with sexual lyrics? Hard pass!
"South Africa! Y'all got it!!! Heard you loud and clear. This won't be a place I will ever visit," she wrote. "Really got grown men justifying rape and predatory culture. Disgusting."
Hopefully, a break from social media and interviews is just what Ari needs to focus on the follow-up to her instant classic Shea Butter Baby album.
via: https://bossip.com/2117995/ari-lennox-swears-off-interviews-south-africa-after-podcast-appearance/
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