Liam Payne has defended himself against claims he is homophobic after a comment he made sparked an outcry online.
The One Direction singer was criticised for what some perceived to be him excluding gay and lesbian people when he introduced a song by telling an audience in Ohio: “This is my favourite song off the last album, and it is about trying to find that number one woman of your life… which none of you can relate to, because most of you are girls.
“Except for the boys in here, you know what I’m talking about.”
The 21-year-old responded after being inundated with messages from infuriated fans, insisting he was in no way homophobic.
@Real_Liam_Payne you should really acknowledge the fact that what you said was homophobic girls can like girls liam ur better than this
; ~bby beansprout~ (@pinkiezain) August 19, 2015
@Real_Liam_Payne please please please dont end up being homophobic ❤️
; aylaaaa (@harrythenugget) August 19, 2015
a swear Liam Payne is homophobic at least once a month
; rachael | not sitc (@personalitycvIt) August 19, 2015
“I am in no way, shape or form homophobic,” he wrote on Twitter. “That's a ridiculous thing to say and I'm not here to offend people, so take it as you will.”
So annoying trying your hardest to make people happy in a show and you think about all the notes u tried to hit higher or a little sweeter
; Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) August 19, 2015
And all some people want to concentrate on was a throw away statement about a song that I love
; Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) August 19, 2015
Lol this is so insane the more I read I'm like wtf have u ever said something in the wrong way I'm sure every person here has lol
; Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) August 19, 2015
A number of his fans rushed to defend the singer by launching the hashtag #weloveyouliam.
okay I was at #OTRAColumbus and the way liam said it was in no way homophobic. can @Real_Liam_Payne say one thing without it being twisted?
; nithya :) (@pinknv2001) August 19, 2015
You can't say anything these days without it being called sexist, racist or homophobic. Absolutely pathetic #WeLoveYouLiam @Real_Liam_Payne
; Hannah Murphy (@hannahmurph14) August 19, 2015
@Real_Liam_Payne Liam, I'm a lesbian, and I understood what you meant. You're not homophobic. People just like to start drama #WeLoveYouLiam
; The A Team ☁️ (@captainnia_ll) August 19, 2015
Payne was forced to defend himself against accusations of homophobia in September when a series of false Photoshopped images manipulated as if to show him with another man in the background surfaced on social media. He denied being in the pictures by tweeting: "Wow as if people think that weird photo going around is actually me lol, think I'd rather tweet a full frontal than have people look at that,” prompting a backlash from his gay fans.
