Lil Wayne Responds to Criticism Over Past Photos with Trump: “I Don’t Concern Myself with Negative Reactions”

Lil Wayne’s Response to Criticism

Lil Wayne addressed the backlash he received for being photographed with Donald Trump in 2020, stating that he “does not care about a negative reaction.”

Trump’s Pardon and Wayne’s Reflections

A few months after their photo was taken together, Trump pardoned Wayne during the final days of his first term. The rapper faced a possible 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to illegal possession of firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon.

At that time, Wayne expressed his gratitude, saying: “I want to thank President Trump for recognizing that I have much more to give my family, my art, and my community.”

In a recent Katya Stone interview, Wayne addressed the situation directly. When asked if he regretted the photographs, he replied: “Damn, no, I am not worried about a negative reaction to anything I do, you know me, dude. My mother would be angry if I had not smiled. This could be the only negative reaction that I would be worried about.”

When asked if he would endorse Trump in the 2024 elections, he responded: “I would say to him: ‘You probably don’t want this,’ because I don’t know what is happening. I can tell you who won the last game, but I can’t… Do you understand what I mean?”

Wayne’s Super Bowl Remarks

In the same interview, Wayne shared that he would never perform at a Super Bowl halftime show, claiming he felt “spoiled” for not being invited to perform in his hometown of New Orleans this year, where Kendrick Lamar was chosen instead.

Meanwhile, Trump’s significant cuts to foreign aid prompted Elton John and Brandi Carlile to launch a campaign aimed at restoring funding for HIV/AIDS research. John explained the urgency of their efforts by stating: “Without operational actions, decades of progress in the global fight against HIV can be undone, creating a global healthcare crisis that we have both the authority and the tools to prevent.”

Additionally, Seth Rogen’s sharp critique of Trump at a recent awards ceremony was edited out of the YouTube broadcast. Rogen remarked, “It is amazing that others (who were) signed the election of a man who destroyed all American science alone last week,” during the event dubbed the scientific Oscars, attended by many prominent figures who support Trump.