As was to be expected, Frank Ocean‘s sexuality-baring letter has in many ways served as both a gift and a curse to the artist.
For while the ‘revelation’ has seen his art garner attention like never before, he has also found himself at the receiving end of what some might call ‘homophobic propaganda’.
Propaganda, which if a member of his team is to be believed, has led to his debut album being blacklisted by the retail company ‘Target‘.
Unsettling story below…
His representative Christian Clancy is reported to have tweeted:
Target has refused to carry Franks album because of Itunes exclusive. Interesting since they also donate to non equal rights organizations.
What Clancy is referring to is Target’s alleged support of Far Right Republican Tom Emmer in 2010.
Emmer, who is reported to have received a sum of $150,000 from the company, is most renown for his controversial stance on LGBT issues, which saw him spawn the following in 2008:
Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America… they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do…
They know homosexuality is an abomination.
Believed to mirror Target’s own belief system, their refusal to sell ‘Orange’ has prompted many- including Clancy- to cite homophobia as the real reason for not selling Ocean’s LP.
This wouldn’t be the first time Target has found itself in hot water over this issue.
Back in 2011, Pop sensation Lady GaGa revoked an exclusive version of her LP ‘Born This Way‘ originally given to the company once she caught wind of their affiliations with Emmer.
It should be noted that the Frank’s iTunes exclusive does give Target a feasible reason as to why they won’t stock the project.
However, judging from allegations pointed at them in the past, we can’t but understand the concerns of some of the star’s more loyal supporters.