“Asher Roth is not gay, and is not scheduled to be interviewed on the E! Channel,” the statement reads.
In addition to his personal life, his career was also the subject of speculation. Rumors swirled that Roth would soon be dropped from SRC Records — where he’s signed via a deal with Universal/Motown Records.
“Asher has not been dropped from SRC Records, and is a top priority at the label after having sold over a million copies his ‘I Love College’ single. Asher is currently working on his next album for SRC,” said a label spokesperson about the follow-up to his debut album, Asleep In the Bread Aisle.
Much of the chatter about Roth’s sexuality began after Roth gave words of support for openly gay former “American Idol” contestant Clay Aiken and appeared at a gay rights parade with Aiken and Lady Gaga and members of Blink-182. Roth isn’t the first rapper to face unsubstantiated rumors questioning their sexuality after speaking in support of gay rights.
In 2005, Kanye West endured a minor backlash from some fans after sharing his distaste for homophobia in hip-hop during an interview with MTV’s Sway to promote his sophomore album, Late Registration. “But everybody in hip-hop discriminates against gay people,” West said back then. “Matter of fact, the exact opposite word of ‘hip-hop,’ I think, is ‘gay.’ Like yo, you play a record and if it’s wack, ‘That’s gay, dog!’ And I wanna just come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, ‘Yo, stop it fam.’ ”
Is there any other genre that would require a press release solely because of what amounts to a political position as it regards to a certain population’s civil rights? Roth took to Twitter late on the day before his statement was released but kept his tweets nondescript — and a little insincere. Asher, you might want to rethink tweeting about football on the day the Web is flooded with conjecture regarding your sexuality. It seems a little calculated. Also, saying “who’s tailgating, for real?” opens up all types of easy jokes. Make the writers have to try a little, dude …
–todd williams
