Drake Slams ‘Disrespecting Muslim Woman In Hijab’ Rumor As Fake Media Story
Drake has hit back at a recent accusation that he was disrespectful to a Muslim woman and ordered her to remove a hijab at his concert as a “fake media story.” The Canadian’s statement can be seen read below.
The Toronto artist’s clarification comes after a fan-filmed video recently surfaced of the rapper interacting with a concertgoer on his current “Boy Meets World Tour.”
The footage isn’t clear, but an onstage Drake can heard talking to a random female in the crowd, saying, “You got on that hot ass scarf right there. You gonna have to take this off.
Drake then said, You gotta turn this motherf***er up. That sh*t, you gone have to come out that sh*t.”
Take a look at video of the moment.
Since Drake’s concert, an unsubstantiated claim spark up on social media alleging that the woman he spoke to wasn’t wearing any ordinary scarf, but a hijab.
It’s worth noting that no picture ever emerged of the woman, yet many blindly accepted that she had been wearing a hijab.
That rumor prompted an online backlash and accusations that Drake was disrespectful to Muslims.
However, the “Hotline Bling” rapper has now addressed the chatter.
In an Instagram post on Friday night, Drake wrote, “I make a point every night to end my shows on tones of unity and love so, to find out that I am being utilized in a fake media story about me disrespecting Muslims is devastating to me.”
The rapper continued, “At my show in the 02 in London I was talking to 4 women one of whom was wearing a jacket and a winter scarf.”
He added, “I made a comment about taking off the scarf because I enjoy friendly banter with the fans.”
“I am well aware of what a hijab is and I would never make a disrespectful comment like that in my life towards someone who is wearing one,” Drake clarified.
He wrote, “I am proud that my closest friends and fans come from all different religions and races, perhaps whoever made up this story should spend more time learning about other cultures and less time trying to divide us.”
User comments under Drake’s Instagram posting indicate his fans are happy that he spoke up and debunked a damaging false rumor.
Just as rumors and fake news are an ongoing scourge in the 24 hour news cycle, rumors are also a problem on social media where falsehoods and/or exaggerations race around the web and frequently go viral and are taken at face value by many.
To be clear, Drake did not disrespect a Muslim woman and ask her to remove her Hijab. The woman he was talking to at his show was wearing a winter scarf, not a Hijab.
The Views artist is one of many stars who have had to defend themselves when something untrue about them is posted or reported as fact when it isn’t.
Drake: Hijab Controversy Is “Fake Media Story” https://t.co/oKN2SLejcC
— Gossip Cop (@GossipCop) February 11, 2017
Tim Cook, the Had of Apple talked about the problem of misinformation during a recent interview.
“[Fake news] is killing people’s minds,” Cook told the Daily Telegraph, a British national newspaper.
The technology honcho went on to say Apple and similar companies needs to create tools that will help stop falsehoods spreading, while also noting freedom of speech.
Cook said he wants governments to get behind information campaigns that deal with fake news.
He also noted that during recent political campaigns on both sides of the pond, supporters of parties were accused of promoting misinformation to gain the upper hand.
This was particularly seen during President Donald Trump’s election campaign. Since taking power, Trump and members of his team have been caught out telling untruths.
“We are going through this period of time right here where unfortunately some of the people that are winning are the people that spend their time trying to get the most clicks, not tell the most truth,” Cook said.
“It’s killing people’s minds, in a way,” he continued.
He added, “All of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news. We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech and of the press, but we must also help the reader.
Elaborating, Cook continued, “Too many of us are just in the ‘complain’ category right now and haven’t figured out what to do.”
Encouragingly, the Apple boss promised that a crackdown on fake news would mean that “truthful, reliable, non-sensational, deep news outlets will win.”
He added, “The [rise of fake news] is a short-term thing. I don’t believe that people want that.”
No doubt, Drake and many more would agree.
Fake news is ‘killing people’s minds’, says Apple boss Tim Cook https://t.co/dN6HzcuIaz
— Guardian US (@GuardianUS) February 11, 2017
[Featured Image By Andrew Benge/Getty Images]
