Iggy Azalea says going public with a relationship is a part of fame, but 'hates' that it didn't work out with DeAndre Hopkins

Rapper Iggy Azalea is known for her openness, but unfortunately, the most recent reveal she made about her love life seemed to blow up in her face. In an interview with Y100 Miami on Aug. 7, the rapper shared that she was dating Houston Texan wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The next day, in a now-deleted tweet, she wrote, “I’m single.”

So what happened in the 24 hours between going public and breaking up with the NFL player? “The unfortunate thing is that when you’re public, there are elements of everybody knowing [about your relationship] that don’t exist when it’s a secret,” Azalea told Yahoo Lifestyle after her appearance on AOL’s BUILD conversation series Tuesday to promote her new EP “Survive the Summer.” “And they affect your actual interactions with that person and affect the other person, and some people can’t handle the pressure of that many eyes on them or that many opinions. Because it isn’t normal.” Unfortunately, Hopkins was one of them. “I’m used to it and it’s my choice to be in this environment because I’m an artist, but people like DeAndre aren’t artists and they don’t want [attention],” she said. “And I understand that.”

Hip-hop star Iggy Azalea took the Build stage to chat about her new EP, “Survive the Summer.” (Credit: Build Studio)
Hip-hop star Iggy Azalea took the Build stage to chat about her new EP, “Survive the Summer.” (Credit: Build Studio)

Azalea has accepted that this is part of the process, but breakups are never easy. “It kind of sucks, but it’s OK. It’s part of it. You sort of have to do it to know,” she said of going public with a relationship. “And sometimes it’s not gonna be the right thing.”

The Australian bombshell has learned that the moment you go public with a relationship is a make or break moment. “Everything before it’s public is like a fantasy honeymoon thing. It is one of the sucky parts [of being famous], but it’s OK.”

The rapper believes that going public didn’t “jinx” her relationship with Hopkins; she knows there’s no recipe for relationship success. “It’s complicated for sure — it’s hard for anybody to navigate that. There’s no answer, there’s no fix, like, keep it secret as long as you can and that’s the answer. People are people, everyone’s different and every relationship you have is gonna be different.”

Her realistic outlook doesn’t mean a sudden split hurts any less. She revealed that she “hates” that it didn’t work out with Hopkins “because it was going so nice. He’s a really good person.” She added, “DeAndre is a nice guy, but eventually you have to tell everybody because you can’t keep your life secret forever.”

This is not Azalea’s first rodeo; her most public relationship was with Nick Young, to whom she was engaged. Since then, she says, she’s been “pretty much” single. “Well I’ve been single, really, since like 2016, I’ve really been single pretty much.” She prefers it that way. “I guess I like being single, because I could settle [for someone]. I’m single so I must not like [being in a relationship] that much. If I really liked it, I could probably make something work. I’d rather be by myself,” she said. “I think I’m a hot nice chick, I think I could find a guy to make it work with, but I want the right guy that I really want to deal with all of this crap for. And I’ve found some really nice guys, but they haven’t been the right ones.”

Think you’re the right one? Don’t even try sliding into her DMs. She once said she didn’t mind it when guys messaged her on social media but as soon as she said it, she regretted it. “It’s gotten so bad since I said that, I wish I never said that. The day after I said that, I promise you every day my DMs are like, ‘so I heard…’ and I’m like, oh my God kill me!” she exclaimed laughing. “Why’d I say that? I take it back. I’m not [OK with DMs from guys]. I thought I was… but I wasn’t.”

If you’re thinking of DMing her for a date, she has four words for you: “Do. Not. Do it.”

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