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Drake has responded to reports that he asked a woman at his London concert this week to remove her hijab, issuing a statement on Instagram on Saturday.
The rapper insisted a video shared on social media, which showed him asking a female concertgoer to take off her head scarf, had been deliberately misconstrued.
The clip, which has since been deleted, showed the One Dance artist saying “You got on that hot ass scarf right there, you might wanna take this off. You gotta turn this motherf*cker up … you gotta come out of that shit.” But it appears the woman’s scarf was not a religious item, or if it was, the Canadian rapper didn’t realise that when he made the comment.
“I make a point every night to end my shows on tones of unity and love so, to find out that I am being utilised in a fake media story about me disrespecting Muslims is devastating to me,” he wrote in a caption on Instagram.
“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, I made a comment about taking off the scarf because I enjoy friendly banter with the fans,” he explained.
“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.
“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.”
It would be out of character for the Grammy nominee, who just a few nights earlier slammed Donald Trump’s Muslim ban during a live show.
“Tonight, my proudest moment isn’t selling tickets or having people sing my songs,” he told the crowd at London’s O2 Arena. “My proudest moment — if you take a look around at this room, you’ll see people from all races and all places,” he said, adding “It’s on us to keep this sh*t together. F*ck that man!”
