Twenty One Pilots’ Tyler Joseph Backs Fan Who Shares Racism Experiences Within Fanbase – ‘We Stand With You’
Twenty One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph has stepped up to lend support to a fan who shared their experiences with racism while interacting with members of the group's fanbase online.
The discussion started with a Twenty One Pilots fan using the moniker Chey on Twitter, who shared her experiences in a lengthy stream of Twitter posts. “I think it’s time to have a really big conversation on the racism, entitlement, and jealousy that goes on. Especially racism,” she explained, adding, “Myself personally has kept my mouth shut on a lot of things because I don’t like bringing negativity to the timeline but as more and more minorities in the fanbase join, this is really becoming out of hand. A lot of y’all’s hatred towards people in particular is racially charged. There’s no denying it, at all."
She continues, while showing some examples, “There are tons of other people who have experienced what I have experienced and not even gotten the tip of amount of hate i experience. Yet, I breathe wrong and these are the ccs I get. (TW for racism + suicide). And like this problem here, while fixable on my end is completely unacceptable and I continuously delete ccs like this Every. Single. Day. EVERY DAY!”
Within the discussion, she explained, “A white person in the U.K. told me I was ignoring the racism in America by talking abt the pilots.. as if that does not directly effect me, and for that they don’t like me. that is quite literally.. racially charged.”
Also within her posting, she offered, “So when I finally snap on you people, It’s been a build up of fucking MONTHS! of racism and threats that i’ve swept under the rug and kept quiet about for YALLS benefit. For tyler and joshs [dun] benefit.”
After the posting, the discussion reached the attention of Twenty One Pilots' Tyler Joseph, who shared his support of Che, stating, "I want you to know that the collective whole of this fan base, Josh and I are with you. Racism is evil and I want this clique to be the most inclusive clique that ever was. Stay strong."
Joseph started off his post to Chey, commenting, “I can’t even imagine what that must feel like. What’s worse is that it will likely happen again at some point. There are terrible people on this earth. hurtful people. They will hide behind anonymity, they will make you feel small and less than, because the truth is, they are small and less than you. it will happen again."
He added, “But know this, we care for you, we stand with you. We think you are invaluable to this fan base. But I can not save you. Some say that this band saved their lives, but what i hope more than anything is that those people would only realize that we have just provided words to help uncover what was already inside of them. courage. this won’t take away the pain. that part may never fully leave. But i want you to know that the collective whole of this fan base, josh and i are with you.
Racism is evil and i want this clique to be the most inclusive clique that ever was.
stay strong."
After receiving the response from Joseph, Che added, "It is incredibly validating and such a weird source of strength and inspiration i don’t think i’ve ever felt before. thank you so much."
While Joseph stepped up to voice his support for Che and against racism, the musician previously faced backlash in 2020 when what he viewed as a joke came across as a tone-deaf posting amidst the racial justice movement surrounding Black Lives Matter back in 2020.
The musician had tweeted a pair of posts with him wearing platform shoes, seemingly poking fun at requests to use his social media platform to speak out on social issues. "You guys keep asking me to use my platforms. Feels good to dust these bad boys off," tweeted Joseph at the time.
When the joke didn't land, he then started discussing mental health and using humor as a way to break from the uncomfortable and honest conversations happening on social media. After drawing more criticism, the singer later offered an apology stating, "My tweet wasn't supposed to be about human rights. So in case you are wondering where I stand: Black Lives Matter. I just wanted to take a moment to raise awareness about something else that has meant a lot to me for a long time now. But now I see there is no room for that now. I'm truly sorry if I hurt anyone." The band then shared a link with ways to help the Black Lives Matter movement.
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