Source: Hoch Zwei / Getty
Isaiah Hickland built a name for himself on Twitter under the handle @EmoBlackThot.
With more than 160,000 followers, @EmoBlackThot provided self-care advice, skincare tips and even shed light on up-and-coming artists like rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Only problem is, many of @EmoBlackThot’s followers believed the person behind the Twitter handle was a Black woman. Hickland never revealed his face and at one point he even went by the alias Nicole to his followers. When he came out as a Black man in a Paper Magazine interview published on Friday, all hell broke loose on Twitter.
“I fu**ed up and I lied, and I’m extremely sorry for it, but I want to take accountability for it and, hopefully, people will forgive me for that,” he said. “But, if not, I get it. All the good, all the creatives I’ve helped, the GoFundMes I’ve boosted, to me, it means nothing [to me] because I lied. All that good is outweighed by the fact I’m hiding behind a facade.”
Hickland said he finally decided to reveal himself after much anxiety and wanting to be more honest with himself. “This is a big step for me,” he said. “I’m so nervous, probably because this will be the first and last time I’ll ever be this honest and open about myself to anybody.” Hickland also took the time to come out as bisexual and he hopes to put the @EmoBlackThot alias behind him to continue doing positive things as his true self.
“I was just trying to be the kind of person I didn’t have for myself, just virtually [for others],” he said. He told Paper Magazine that he hopes to continue and bolster fans as Isaiah by continuing the conversation around mental health within the Black community, bringing attention to under-the-radar social injustice issues, and sharing what it’s like to live as a Black bisexual man. The 23-year-old even started a new YouTube channel and shared his Isiah Hickland social media handles for people to follow. All this was unleashed to the world on National Coming Out Day.
But despite Hickland’s goal to be more authentic, Black women were not happy about his big reveal. Many felt bamboozled and conned, accusing Hickland of carrying on a facade that he was a Black woman. Some said they donated money to him and accused him of profiting off of Black women’s experiences. A few people even said he brought up menstrual cycle topics, which made them further believe he was a Black women.
Hickland seemed to respond to the backlash by tweeting as @EmoBlackThot on Friday, writing in a since-deleted tweet, “To black women: i want to sincerely apologize. the intention of my actions doesn’t matter, the impact & how they make you feel does. i take full accountability for my actions and i’m sorry.”
Only time will tell if he’ll truly be forgiven. Until then, check out some of the heated outrage below.
