The front man for Twenty One Pilots Tyler Joseph isn’t someone you usually hear too much controversy about but he’s facing backlash today due to a tweet he made yesterday in which some people felt he was insensitive to the #BLM movement…I’ll show the tweet below but honestly in my opinion it’s a whole lot of fuss over nothing…he made a joke, it wasn’t racist or sexist…it was simply a play on the word platform and you can tell by reactions on Twitter that many people are angered …here’s the tweet:
you guys keep asking me to use my platforms.
— tyler jøseph (@tylerrjoseph) September 2, 2020
feels good to dust these bad boys off. pic.twitter.com/CFyMOIkKgC
As you can see he didn’t reference #blm and was simply making a joke about his crazy platform shoes…people need to chill the out these days and worry about stuff that actually matters…it’s clear he meant no ill will towards anyone with the tweet but people still seem pretty angered by it.
Of course as it always happens with cancel culture in full force these days he would surely have to issue an apology on social media…right? Not so much, although he did have a response, it was more explaining himself than apologizing and that set people off even more…He decided to use his platform to talk about suicide prevention rather than BLM and for that he faced further backlash.
Is Black Lives Matter important? yes, very much so but is it the only thing that matters? not even close, people, even celebrities, have a right to use their platform or not use it for whatever causes they see fit…we live in a society now where if someone donates money to a charity they still get grief for not donating enough…you will never make everyone happy so I’m glad he didn’t even try to…here’s some of his tweets:
your own mental health should always be a priority.
— tyler jøseph (@tylerrjoseph) September 2, 2020
i’m amazed at how easy it is to forget that simple fact.
it’s something that can sneak up on you, then eventually you check in on it and realize it’s in really bad shape.
Suicide prevention is a very important issue to touch on, especially this time of year with Winter coming soon lots of people sink into depression and need to hear messages like this one. Every tweet can’t be about #BLM and it’s perfectly fine that he isn’t bringing it up.
i’m trying to cut through to who really needs to hear this.
— tyler jøseph (@tylerrjoseph) September 2, 2020
this is tough, but it’s not hopeless.
fighting for your mental health is not public, it’s not glorious, it’s not even interesting, but it’s the greatest challenge you will face.
Everyone is aware of Black Lives Matter, there are protests to remind anyone that forgets everyday…there is room for us to care about other things as well…he did nothing wrong here.
according to the world health organization:
— tyler jøseph (@tylerrjoseph) September 2, 2020
Close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds.
according to American Foundation of Suicide Prevention:
On average, there are 132 suicides per day.
But I guess those 800,000 people don’t matter because they aren’t part of the #BLM movement…I honestly don’t understand why people can’t care about both…it’s shameful to shame him for focusing on suicide prevention rather than the cause you want him to focus on…this is clearly what is important to him right now…so let him speak on it and help whoever he might be able to help.
As you can imagine with the world the way it is these days, people had lots of opinions and certainly weren’t going to keep them to themselves.
I, one (1) black dude on the internet, don’t actually care if you use your social media platform to speak up about BLM.
— D’Angelo Wallace (@dangelno) September 3, 2020
I was fine before it was a trend and I’ll be fine afterwards.
But not using your platform PLUS joking about not doing so? Nah Tyler Joseph is weird y’all 💀
He made a joke about platform shoes and then used his platform to bring awareness to mental health issues…you hint at it in your tweet man….most people that “bring awareness” pretty much do it because it’s trendy..if the mental health stuff is what’s on his mind right now, why should he force a #blm tweet just to appease the masses?
my tweet wasn’t suppose to be about human rights. so in case you are wondering where i stand: Black Lives Matter.
— tyler jøseph (@tylerrjoseph) September 3, 2020
i just wanted to take a moment to raise awareness about something else that has meant a lot to me for a long time.
but now I see there is no room for that right now.
Exactly, he wasn’t joking about not using his platform for #blm, he was joking about not using it for any issues at all…then he used it to bring attention to an issue he is clearly dealing with in his life right now…I don’t understand the anger, I really don’t…
As someone who has suffered from Bipolar Disorder for 25 years I find it incredibly disheartening to see that people like myself can’t reach out for help or speak on our issues without being accused of not caring about other issues…it’s sad to see so many people clearly take the stance that people like me and our issues just aren’t as important as BLM…I think there’s room to care about both but hey, maybe that’s just me. It’s hard enough for people dealing with mental health issues to reach out for help, certainly doesn’t make it any easier to see a celebrity attacked for it.
What are your thoughts…was the joke too much?
Let us know in the comments 🙂
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