Lil Nas X Fires Back After Being Criticized for Kissing Male Dancer at BET Awards

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Lil Nas X is defending his BET Awards performance.

On Sunday, June 27, the 22-year-old singer set the stage ablaze at the ceremony, where he sang his hit song, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)." While his performance received instant buzz due to the homage paid to Michael Jackson's iconic song, "Remember The Time," it also received praise and notable attention due to the steamy kiss he shared with one of his male dancers.

The kiss drew audible cheers and a massive amount of applause from the audience and even earned the rapper a standing ovation—but, when one social media user criticized the "Old Town Road" musician for his production, Lil Nas X immediately fired back.

In response to a critic who tweeted at him, "DON'T USE AFRICAN CULTURE FOR S--TS LIKE THIS!!!! RESPECT OUR ANCESTORS," the rapper wrote, "Y'all really like to pretend homosexuality didn't exist in African culture."

Lil Nas X's Best Looks

For his on-stage attire, the rapper dressed up as a pharaoh and donned gold matching knee-high boots.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">y’all really like to pretend homosexuality didn’t exist in african culture <a href="https://t.co/mGmah0CbP9">https://t.co/mGmah0CbP9</a></p>&mdash; nope 🏹 (@LilNasX) <a href="https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1409350286586507266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While the performance drew some criticism, the "Rodeo" rapper also received an overwhelming amount of adoration from his fans on social media and even got a sweet shout-out from Diddy on Twitter. "Lil Nas X did that!!!" the 51-year-old rapper wrote. "Be fearless!!!"

Lil Nas X, 2021 BET Awards, Show
Lil Nas X, 2021 BET Awards, Show

A fan of the "Montero" musician echoed that same sentiment by tweeting, "LIL NAS X. LEGEND, ICON, HE IS THE MOMENT." Another sang his praises by writing, "Ok, I love this man for this and ending Pride month out with a bang."

And although Lil Nas X is not backing down from his haters, it's safe to say his fans will talking about his latest show-stopping performance until the sun goes down.