While opening his Coachella 2022 set, TDE rapper Isaiah Rashad addressed his leaked sex tape scandal — that attempted to create speculation around his sexuality — and thanked fans for their support during the controversy. He told the crowd, “Y’all kept me alive these last couple months.”
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The Background: Isaiah Rashad Sex Tape Leaks
Earlier this year, an intimate tape leaked, appearing to be an attempt to out the rapper as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. However, fellow artists and fans ended up rallying around the rapper and offering their support. While being a gay rapper was considered taboo in the Hip-Hop community, things are becoming more and more accepted. We’ve seen this with Tyler, The Creator, Frank Ocean and more recently Lil Nas X.
Isaiah Receives Support From Rap Community
When Isaiah’s tape leaked, the rap community also uplifted him. He receipt support from Miami rapper Zoey Dollaz and Atlanta rapper Deante’ Hitchcock. Zoey said, “Call it how u want but I’m still gonna listen to and support Isaiah rashad music cus wtf that man prefer has nothing to do with me dawg still a very talented artist and y’all still support Pedos , murderers , rapist , and much worse artist.”
Meanwhile, Deante’ said, “Yall acting like who cuz f**k make you nut. @isaiahrashad you still a solid n***a my boi and ain’t nobody round the way finna treat ya different. Go stream THIB 🏠” Isaiah also received support from Tennessee rapper Duke Deuce, who said, “Another man’s preference ain’t got sh*t to do with me nor anyone else. Isaiah Rashad you a great mf artist keep your head up brother. CRUNKSTARZ dgaf what others think of them⚡️.”
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Isaiah Bounces Back & Make His Return
Amid the release of the tape, the Top Dawg Entertainment rapper kept quiet and never addressed any part of the tape, allegations…nada.
Up until Saturday night (Apr. 16), Day 2 of the first weekend of Coachella 2022, Isaiah kept a low profile. But before he took to the stage, a video montage of various podcasters, news personalities and celebrities began to play. Several clips pieced together shared the timeline of events from the video leak, to the backlash and even proving the support he received from fans, noting how his streams completely soared after the leak.
One person in the montage can be heard saying, “The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him. However, that backfired. When his video leaked, his dreams and everything went up.”
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Isaiah Seemingly Gets Emotional At Coachella
Following the nearly 2-minute montage, Isaiah took to the stage performing a song of his. At some point during his set, he also rapped along to his track “Wat’s Wrong,” and gave such a powerful performance that fans caught him shed a tear. By the end of his set, he thanked his supporters for keeping him “alive these last couple months,” adding that he greatly appreciated all “the messages and all the positivity” the sent his way.