Chingy is opening up about how a year-old rumor nearly changed the way he interacted with fans from the LGBTQ community.
The St. Louis rapper reflected on the fallout from a 2010 photo with media personality Sidney Starr, who later claimed they were in a relationship before walking back the statement in 2012.
Speaking on Willie D Live, Chingy said the situation made him question whether he should continue taking photos with LGBTQ fans altogether.
“Somebody took a picture of me being nice to a fan who came up and was excited to meet me,” he said. “And they based the two-year relationship line off of that.”
Chingy admitted the rumor created fear. “I was going to stop taking pictures with homosexual individuals,” he explained. “Nothing against them, but I thought that’s what they going to do.”
He later realized that would be unfair. “My fans didn’t deserve that,” he said. “I ain’t going to stop being me because somebody decides to be evil. That’s going to come back on them at some point.”
Chingy has previously spoken out about how the incident negatively impacted his career.