Jack Parow apologises: It wasn’t me!
Jack Parow (Twitter)
Afrikaans rapper Jack Parow has finally responded to the outrage caused by his homophobic meme on Tuesday, apologising and claiming that he didn’t actually post it himself.
Facing calls for his sponsors to drop him over the offensive Twitter post promoting his ‘Parow Brandy,’ the star insisted that it had been posted by his social media team without his knowledge.
In an apology statement posted on Twitter, Parow said:
“I would like to sincerely apologise for yesterday’s post on social media. My social media manager created and posted a meme that is very offensive and it being the silly season and my manager being on leave I personally did not have the time to look at it properly before it was posted.
“My management is busy dealing with the social team accordingly. This does not mean to say that I am trying to shift blame. I take full responsibility for it and I am truly, truly sorry. I do not condone hate speech or homophobic slurs in any way and it truly makes me sad that it now looks like that.
“I have many friends and family in the gay community and I completely understand the struggles they have gone through. I truly am deeply, deeply sorry en jammer as ek a poes was,” Parow said.
A number of his fans didn’t see what the fuss was all about. One commented that people should stop being “so sensitive” while another argued that the meme was just “satire”. Others weren’t buying it, telling Parow to stop shifting the blame and to show proper accountability.
“Why not show that you mean this?” asked Bradulting. “Get behind a LGBTQ movement? Openly support them? Engage with those communities? Make a stand and use this as a platform to SHOW the values you hold! Lastly, take ownership of this mistake you have made. Don’t share the blame. Be accountable!”
The offensive meme was posted with the comment, “Fokkit. This needs no caption.” It featured a picture of the Jonas Brothers accompanied by the description, “Mofiie” (an Afrikaans slur for gay). Below that, there was a photo of bottles of Parow’s brandy next to the text, “Die Manne” (“the men” in Afrikaans).
The post was soon after deleted but as screengrabs were shared online Parow was called out for his casual homophobia and for perpetuating toxic masculine stereotypes.
It’s not the first time the performer has been accused of homophobia. In 2016, Parow came under fire for suggesting that gay people aren’t very good at sport.
Along with a video that appeared to show an Australian cricketer groping a teammate as they stood listening to the national anthem, he tweeted that Australia had lost the one-day series to South Africa because “one of their players was batting for the other team…”
Parow launched his Parow Brandy in 2017, stating that he had “made a brandy for everyone.”
— Jack Parow (@JackParow) December 19, 2018
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I think he has handled it well. Lets now move on.
I’m not a fan but let’s not drag this on when other people say and do worse and are not held to any standard. I cringe when I read PC speak “perpetuating toxic masculine stereotypes” – regardless of gender etc, don’t be an ass. Short, simple and to the point.
I understand the condemnation of the post. No one with a brain could see this is offensive.
1 it was offensive post to a lot of people in the community find it his insulting and coming from a straight man makes it worse. It’s is a derogatory word .
2. Why has the comuncation\ sosial media company not come forward and say who they are? They should take responsibility for this or are they blowing smoke and blaming someone not themselfs.
3 cape town pride is in 2 months why not come out and do a fund raiser for the shelter?
As chair for PTA PRIDE. I challenge him to do a concert with other Afrikaans singers where all the proceeds go to PTA PRIDE. This way you can really show you support the LGBTIQ community or are you and other homophobes and other Afrikaans singers just to scared to support the community but rather mock them.
Best
Bruce Walker
Chair Pretoria lgbtipride
I don’t think it is constructive to “expect” him to perform a concert to show his sincerity before the community will accept his apology. The gay community, at least I like to think so, expects nothing more than equality and dignity and is quick to demonstrate forgiveness and tolerance. He and his marketing manager made a stupid mistake, he has made a sincere apology, and I seriously doubt he will do it again.
‘n regte BRAND praat met mense met respek, nie daai fokken 3rde klas bitter pis wat daai platvloerse, oppervlakkige, agterstevoor, lelike, stuk kak probeer verkwnsel nie… Hy en sy “social media manager” is niemand se tyd werd nie, en ook maar’ n basic spul kommin poese wat wens hulle was, Die Antwoord…