Recently, Rita Ora, Charli XCX, Cardi B, and Bebe Rexha have been under immense scrutiny on social media for a new song they dropped together called “Girls.”
The song, that somewhat reminds the world of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl,” is very much in the theme of “women kissing other women.” While the song seems to be an “open-minded” view of sexuality–it turns out, the LGBTQ community were extremely offended by the song and some of the lyrics. The song’s chorus is:
“Sometimes I just wanna kiss girls, girls, girls / Red wine, I just wanna kiss girls, girls, girls.”
Many artists and members of the LGBTQ community claim the song does “more harm than good.” Lesbian singer and songwriter Kiyoko said in a statement on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BipjcFtjsST/?utm_source=ig_embed
Kehlani, a lesbian singer who is featured on Cardi B’s album, said in a now-deleted tweet:
hate to be THAT guy but there were many awkward slurs, quotes, and moments that were like “word? word”
Other people claimed that the song “fetishizes” lesbians and promotes the message that the only time women should kiss women is when they’re drunk.
Both Rita Ora and Cardi B have taken to social media to apologize to fans and the entire LGBTQ community if they were offended by the song and its lyrics. Rita Ora, who is rumored to be bisexual, said that the song was a representation of “her truth” and honest experience she’s had in her life. She also claimed she would never intentionally cause harm to the LGBTQ community or anyone else.
Cardi B said that the artists on the song were never trying to be offensive–and claimed she personally had experiences with other women (a lot of women) and claims she still thought the song was good. She did, however, apologize for the language she used on the song and said she never wanted it to be offensive and will stop using the terms.