Source: handout / Candace Owens
Candace Owens is making some eye-raising decisions, from meeting up with Joe Budden for an upcoming interview to defending Beyoncé.
Candace Owens has long positioned herself at the forefront of Black conservatism in America, quite often criticizing the Black community in the process. And that hasn’t gone unnoticed, with many Black people disparaging her for behavior that ultimately comforts the worst of white right-wingers and conservatives, such as promoting the fallacy that George Floyd wasn’t killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. But as the United States is in another tense election year, Owens seems to be shifting her stance ever so slightly within the past few days with two moves – the first being a surprise meeting with media personality and rapper Joe Budden.
Owens shared a photo of her meetup with Budden, which reportedly took place in Nashville, Tennessee to her Instagram Stories. The caption simply read, “It happened.” Budden had previously expressed admiration for Candace Owens, remarking on The Joe Budden Podcast that he doubted that she would ever call in to make an appearance. The author would respond on her own podcast last week, saying: “I’m going to take you up on your offer, publicly.”
The news of the interview and the photo spread like wildfire across the internet, with many expressing their displeasure over the situation. HOT97 radio host Peter Rosenberg made his position plain in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “So sick of the idea that conversations need to be had with bigots, trolls, and immoral a-holes …exchanging ideas among smart good people is useful … hearing a hateful hack babble on about hate is not worth anyone’s time.”
So sick of the idea that conversations need to be had with bigots, trolls, and immoral a-holes …exchanging ideas among smart good people is useful … hearing a hateful hack babble on about hate is not worth anyone's time
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) February 28, 2024
This follows a surprising position that Owens took in defending superstar singer Beyoncé’s latest single, “Texas Hold ‘Em”. from a slew of detractors believing it’s not truly a country song. “Some people are saying that this is not very country,” Owens said of Beyoncé’s new song. “I’m going to defend Beyoncé on that point because Beyoncé’s kind of always been country. She’s more country than Taylor Swift ever was for sure.” She continued: “Beyoncé is from Houston, Texas. She’s always had a twang… [Taylor Swift] put on a fake twang. Everyone was okay with it. You can’t say that Taylor Swift can do it, and Beyonce can’t.”
This what our hip hop legends doing pic.twitter.com/d3J5iVmSqd
— The 10pc. Killa (@MeezyBlvd) February 28, 2024