Twenty One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph apologized Wednesday for a joking tweet that got him in a lot of hot water with his fans.
“My tweet wasn’t suppose [sic] to be about human rights. so in case you are wondering where i stand: Black Lives Matter,” he wrote. “Im [sic] truly sorry if it hurt anyone.”
The tweet in question featured two pictures of Joseph sporting very nice, white platform shoes with little stars and moons on them.
“You guys keep asking me to use my platforms,” the tweet said. “Feels good to dust these bad boys off.”
But a number of fans didn’t think the joke was funny and responded with criticism in the comments.
“No that’s actually not what we mean. we would like you to speak up on the injustice in this country,” wrote one user.
“:( it’s disappointing to see you joke about this dude,” wrote another.
“Fr though. ty we love you but you know this isn’t [sic] what we meant. you had time to take these pics so what’s stopping you from sharing a link to a petition/carrd?” a third wrote.
But for as many critics as Joseph had, there were also fans jumping in to defend him.
“He is not joking about the issues, he is joking about the ‘fans’ that ask and put pressure on him to speak, and without respect,” one defender wrote. “While he is creating new music that you also ask for. Please be patient and respectful.”
Immediately after Joseph’s joke-tweet Wednesday, he began tweeting in earnest about the importance of taking care of one’s mental health and sharing information about the upcoming Suicide Prevention Week.
He also wrote that he was “doubling down” on his “platform tweet,” adding that “it was fantastic.”
Two hours later, however, Joseph had changed his tune. He responded with an apology to fans asking him to acknowledge the Black Lives Matter movement in equal measure.
“I just wanted to take a moment to raise awareness about something else that has meant a lot to me for a long time,” he wrote. “but now I see there is no room for that right now.”
“Im [sic] truly sorry if it hurt anyone. Here is a link with a lot of great info that I stand by,” he added, sharing a link to resources with ways to help Black Lives Matter.
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