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Drake — who has graced the covers of GQ, Vibe, XXL and (THR sister publication) Billboard in the past year alone — says he’s “done” with magazine interviews after getting incensed at Rolling Stone for his treatment in the latest issue.
The hip-hop star lashed out at the music mag for choosing to feature the recently deceased actor Philip Seymour Hoffman on the cover instead of him and took issue with the way he was quoted in his profile commenting on Kanye West.
“I never commented on Yeezus for my interview portion of Rolling Stone,” Drake wrote in a series of tweets (two of which have since been deleted). “They also took my cover from me last minute and ran the issue. I’m disgusted with that. RIP to Phillip Seymour Hoffman. All respect due. But the press is evil. I’m done doing interviews for magazines. I just want to give my music to the people. That’s the only way my message gets across accurately.”
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It’s unclear if the Nothing Was the Same rapper was saying he didn’t comment to Rolling Stone about Kanye West’s album or if he was saying he was misquoted. In the profile, Drake appears to dismiss some of the lyrics in Yeezus. “There were some real questionable bars on there,” he is quoted in the mag. “Like that ‘Swaghili’ line? Come on, man. Even Fabolous wouldn’t say some shit like that.”
The Rolling Stone feature, written by contributing editor Jonah Weiner, is humorously headlined “High Times at the YOLO Estate” and includes a spread of Drake smoking a hookah while lounging in a bathtub. On the cover, the piece is titled “Drake: At Home With Hip-Hop’s Lonely Prince.”
“We stand by our reporting,” a Rolling Stone spokesperson tells THR. Weiner directed a request for comment back to the magazine’s public relations rep. Drake’s publicist hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
Early Friday, Drake wrote a blog post that explained his apparent anger the day earlier and attributed the since-deleted tweets to an “emotional day.” He also reiterated that his rant didn’t have to do with Philip Seymour Hoffman, but was sparked by not being able to “salvage my story or my photos.”
“I completely support and agree with Rolling Stone replacing me on the cover with the legendary Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He is one of the most incredible actors of our time and a man that deserves to be immortalized by this publication. My frustration stemmed from the way it was executed,” he wrote. “The circumstances at hand are completely justifiable (on the magazines behalf), but I was not able to salvage my story or my photos and that was devastating. They ran the issue without giving me a choice to be in it or not. I would have waited until it was my time because I understand the magnitude of the cover they chose but I just wasn’t given that option and that made me feel violated. I apologize to anybody who took my initial comments out of context because in no way would I ever want to offend the Hoffman family or see myself as bigger than that moment. I am still the same person.”
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