Justin Tranter Praises Kid Cudi for Wearing Dress, Reveals Member of Rapper’s Team Once Called Them Homophobic Slur
On Saturday (April 10), Kid Cudi wore a dress during his performance on Saturday Night Live.
Kid Cudi wore the floral sundress as an homage to the late Kurt Cobain, who died 27 years ago on April 5, 1994. In a tweet, Kid Cudi revealed that he "wanted to show love to Kurt" with his outfit. He also shared that the "masterpiece" was custom-designed by Virgil Abloh.
Online, Kid Cudi's sartorial choice was met with both celebration and criticism. On Sunday (April 11), acclaimed LGBTQ+ songwriter, musician and producer Justin Tranter applauded the rapper on Twitter for going against cultural norms, while also recalling a past transgression involving a member of the rapper's entourage.
In a since-deleted tweet, Tranter shared an anecdote from they were on tour with Kid Cudi back in 2009. According to Tranter, a member of Cudi's team hurled a homophobic slur while walking past their dressing room. "I was serving one of my daily gender non conforming legendary looks & someone on his team yelled 'f---ot' & they all laughed & walked away," they wrote.
Tranter received backlash for the tweet, with several Twitter users accusing them of calling Kid Cudi out during his big moment. Others took the opportunity to "cancel" Kid Cudi and "expose" him. But Tranter clarified in a follow-up post that their intention was to praise the progress that was made between 2009 to now, not to stoke controversy. They also mentioned that Cudi looked "gorgeous".
An hour later, Tranter confirmed that they deleted the tweet due to the negative reaction. They also reassured fans that the point of the tweet was to celebrate the positive development in the music industry, not to tear anyone down or rehash the past.
Watch Kid Cudi's SNL performance of "Sad People," below: