Posted by Kehlani and The Morning Hustle radio program are engaged in a heated feud online, with each side claiming the other behaved unprofessionally when they sat down for a recent interview together.
When the episode aired on Saturday (May 7), Kehlani fans immediately noted the singer’s cold and brooding vibe on the show. Many fans in the YouTube comments noted how uniquely awkward the interview was. The SweetSexySavage hitmaker (who uses they/them pronouns) took to socials shortly after the interview aired to clarify why the conversation was so tense and, in turn, accused The Morning Hustle of being “cringey” and “invasive.”
“Every other recent interview has been super bubbly, warm, informative & open,” Kehlani wrote on their Instagram Story shortly after the episode aired. “From start to finish, this interview was cringey, a lot of mockery and invasive as fuck.”
They went on to say interviews like this one were the reason why so many artists don’t speak to the press at all and said moving forward, fans should avoid sharing clips of the interview out of context, adding those who’ve seen the whole sit-down agreed it was a bizarre interview.
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The Morning Hustle then got wind of Kehlani’s comments and bit back on their Monday (May 9) show by claiming Kehlani showed up an hour and a half earlier than scheduled. They noted the singer was standoffish from the beginning and sat with their arms crossed. The hosts claimed they tried to behave as professionally and courteously as they could given Kehlani’s poor attitude.
“I didn’t come any earlier than I was supposed to,” Kehlani replied on Instagram on Monday (May 9). “I had just finished Yung Joc’s radio show really good energy… I def said hi to everyone.. I sat down and immediately od’ing with the pronounce felt like a mockery.”
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Kehlani went on to say the radio show not only made fun of their pronouns but asked deeply personal questions such as if they ever scissored their best friend.
“I have done really amazing beautiful interviews the entire week and even that morning right before,” they wrote. “[I was] perfectly fine when I walked in.. and every single person that came in with me felt how wrong all of it was.”
Kehlani was currently in the midst of a press run for their latest album Blue Water Road, which dropped on April 28. Kehlani said they will no longer be doing interviews for this project as a result of what’s transpired on The Morning Hustle.
Blue Water Road featured appearances from Syd, Jessie Reyez, Thundercat, Ambré and others. The project debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.
Watch the full interview below.