Vic Mensa still stands by his controversial comments about the late XXXtentacion.
On Monday (October 8), the "Reverse" rapper took to Instagram to address his recent BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher where he reportedly called X an "abuser." "Recently I did a freestyle for the BET Awards Cypher, addressing and condemning rappers who unabashedly abuse women and those who stand up for them and even call them legends. I stand behind those statements," he explained.
Vic received immediate backlash not only for his choice of words about the late rapper, who was accused of domestic and sexual abuse before his death, but also for his timing as X's mother Cleopatra Bernard was in attendance of the award show. However, in his Instagram video, Vic made it clear that he was unaware that his words would be played in front of X's mom. "It was prerecorded weeks ago and I had no idea a grieving mother would be in the audience to honor her lost son," he admitted. "I never intended to disrespect her, and I offer my deepest condolences for her loss at the hands of gun violence."
"However, I vehemently reject the trend in hip-hop of championing abusers, and I will not hold my tongue about it," Vic added. "I don’t give a f**k about getting attention. I care about bringing awareness, and holding people accountable for their actions."
Vic's controversial freestyle was brought to light by DJ Scheme, as the award show is not set to air with until October 16, when he called Vic out on Twitter. “How u gone say ‘Your favorite rapper is an abuser’ and then follow it with a line saying ‘some sh*t X some sh*t so I won’t live long,’” Scheme wrote on Sunday (October 7).
As previously reported, X was gunned down outside a motorsports store in Deerfield Beach, Florida on June 18.
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