Ne-Yo Recants ‘Apology’ Towards Parents of Trans Children

Ne-Yo has a change of heart after making remarks on VladTV that received pushback from the trans community. It appeared that the 43-year-old seemingly felt the pressure when he issued a statement on Sunday (August 6), saying that he planned to “better educate” himself on transgenderism.

However, it looks like the statement was a farce, as Ne-Yo shared a black-and-white video on Instagram of himself recanting the apology, which he said came from his publicist.

"First and foremost, I did not apologize for having an opinion on this matter. I am a 43-year-old heterosexual man raising five boys and two girls, okay? That’s my reality,” he said. “If my opinion offended somebody, yeah, sure, I apologize for you being offended because that wasn’t my intention. My intention is never to offend anybody."

He continued, "However, I’m entitled to feel how I feel. I am absolutely entitled to feel how I feel the same way you are entitled to feel how you feel.”

The singer then reasserted that he does plan to “educate” himself on the topic, as he has "no beef with the [LGBTQIA+] community" and only "answered the damn question."

"If I get canceled for this, then, you know what, maybe this is a world where they don’t need a Ne-Yo no more. And I ain’t got no problem with that. I’m a hustler, alright? I’ll figure it out," he said.

The controversy began when the R&B singer-songwriter was interviewed by actress and former video vixen Gloria Velez for the media platform, where they discussed parents who support their children who identify as a different gender from their sex assigned at birth.

“I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman,” said Ne-Yo told Velez. “And there was two genders, and that’s just how I rocked. You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like, I don’t care. That ain’t my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you. I’m not gonna call you a goldfish. But if you wanna be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish. We live in a weird time, man. We do.”

Ne-Yo: When Did it Become OK for a 12-Year-Old Boy to Say He Wants to Be a Girl? (Part 3)www.youtube.com

Elsewhere in the 2-hour interview, Ne-Yo, born Shaffer Chimere Smith, added: “I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl.’ And you just let him rock with that? He’s 5 … If you let this 5-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he’s gonna do that. When did it become a good idea to let a 5-year-old, let a 6-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for themself? When did that happen? I don’t understand.”

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health recommends a graduated approach to gender-affirming care that does not recommend physical interventions such as puberty-suppressing hormones until into adolescence, after the physical changes of puberty have begun. For pre-pubescent children, only social transitions such as changing their hair and clothes or name and pronouns are recommended. Gender-affirming surgery comes many years later for those who choose it, after reaching the age of consent. The association also says, “Moving from one stage to another should not occur until there has been adequate time for adolescents and their parents to assimilate fully the effects of earlier interventions.”

LGBTQIA advocates and educators blasted the 3-time Grammy-winner on social media for his controversial views. Some even criticized Smith for having seven children with several women, all of which he’s allegedly cheated on.