Macklemore turned into an overnight celebrity after his surprising Grammy’s victory over the weekend, but now old tweets have re-surfaced that could damage the musician’s career.
Macklemore was awarded four awards at Sunday’s ceremony for his album, The Heist , and singles, “One Love” and “Thrift Shop.”
But just one look at his Twitter account shows that he has sent over 15,000 tweets ever since he signed up to the website, and two of them featured very derogatory terms that are aimed towards the LGBT community.
The first offensive message was sent on 19, May 2009:
I’m so happy right now. No homo…I love new york! Pause. I’m so not gay! Fuck yea. And I’m so secure in that!
— Macklemore (@macklemore) May 19, 2009
This was then followed by another hateful tweet a month later:
watching dykes vs. drag queens play baseball on the hill…this sucks — Macklemore (@macklemore) June 14, 2009
These messages might have a damaging effect on the rapper’s persona, as he has been widely praised for singing numerous songs with anti-homophobic messages.
It’s also emerged that Macklemore sent a tweet out in September, 2009 which suggests that he believes George W. Bush had a part in the September 11, 2011, attacks in New York. Macklemore wrote:
911…bush knocked down the towers — Macklemore (@macklemore) September 18, 2009
As you’d expect some people have reacted furiously to the unveiling of these messages. One user called Macklemore’s remarks, “delusional and disrespectful,” while another added, “How can you disrespect the memory of those lost on 9/11? How about you stick to making crappy music and leave the forward thinking to those of us with half a brain.”
Meanwhile, others have actually reacted sympathetically to Macklemore’s plight:
people really diggin into macklemore’s old tweets. man I hope no one ever digs through my old tweets
— roddy pants (@TheRodcast) January 27, 2014
I’m loving these old Macklemore tweets showing up. He seems super genuine. Might want to scrub these old hateful tweets, buddy.
— Desmond (@thatdes) January 27, 2014
Macklemore has also apologised to Kendrick Lamar for winning so many gongs at the Grammys, which meant that his peer went home empty-handed.
Macklemore decided to text Lamar an apology, which he then uploaded to his Instagram page. It read:
I’m honored and completely blown away to win anything much less 4 Grammys.
But in that category, he should have won IMO. And that’s taking nothing away from The Heist. Just giving GKMC it’s proper respect..
With that being said, thank you to the fans. You’re the reason we were on that stage tonight.
And to play “Same Love” on that platform was a career highlight. The greatest honor of all. That’s what this is about. Progress and art. Thank you. #grammys