Australian Rapper Dropped by Label after Homophobic Tirade

Australian rapper Anthony Lees – also known by his stage name Spanian – found himself without a record label and minus some of his fan base after he took to social media with a since-deleted video that insinuated Pride events are a facade for "groomers" threatening children, Lad Bible reported.

"I'm fucking sick of this fucking perverted, putrid shit, like a bunch of deadset paedophiles hiding behind some fucking gay pride," the site quoted Lees as saying in a Feb. 25 video that was posted online during Sydney's celebration of WorldPride this past weekend.

The jeremiad veered from baseless comparisons of LGBTQ+ people with child molesters to claims that gender itself was somehow being eradicated. "We're not even men, we're not women. We're fucking this, we're that, we're a hundred different things," the Lees seethed. "Forcing it upon us. We say nothing."

NME noted that one particular focus of the rapper's rage seemed to be a mural in Sydney that depicted a member of the bear community with a teddy-bear head. NME noted that the mural "has since been vandalized," though it's unclear if that had a connection to the video.

"'It's forcing it upon our kids,' Lees said in his rant, arguing that public displays of queer imagery have 'gotten to the point [that] there's a fucking pornographic images in the streets with gay flags, big homosexual teddy bears,'" NME detailed.

"Following the rant, Australian hip hop collective One Day cut ties with Spanian, calling his remarks 'problematic,'" Lad Bible recounted, specifying the label that Lees had previously been associated with.

"We believe in free speech and people's rights to express themselves," One Day posted. "What we cannot tolerate, though, are actions and speech which (whether intended or not) incite hatred and are harmful and dangerous to people, especially marginalized communities."

"Our company is no longer representing Spanian, effective immediately," the post added.

Fellow artists called Lees out. "Within hours of the video being posted, several artists and music industry figures called Lees out for his widely disproven attacks on the queer community," NME said.

"Mallrat, for example, wrote in a comment that she 'didn't realise [Lees was] so ignorant and hateful', while fellow rapper Urthboy called the rant 'utter bullshit' and pointed out that the 'vast majority of child sexual abuse happens from family and trusted friends.'"

Fans, too, reacted. "I actually feel embarrassed and disappointed in myself over the fact I ever enjoyed anything you did," Lad Bible quoted one former listener as posting in response to the now-deleted video.

Lees followed up by posting another video – also since deleted – in which he doubled down on his earlier comments.

"Hey guys, heaps of people were really offended about what I said the other day; I guess like what I really what to say is I'm sorry for absolutely fucking nothing, you putrid peasants," Lad Bible quoted Lees as saying in the follow-up video.

The rapper's rant followed an Instagram post from a year in which he shared a selfie taken at a gym. The workout shorts he was wearing left little to the imagination.

Comments directed at the rapper at the time were not entirely dissimilar to the diatribe he unleashed this past weekend. In the wake of the since-deleted anti-LGBTQ+ video, commenters revisited the image.

"The children need to be saved from viewing the chode more than the bear head," posted one person, referring to the Sydney mural.