The 'Montero' singer took to Twitter to respond to haters who slammed his performance during Sunday's show.
Lil Nas X is pushing back against haters slamming his performance at this year's BET Awards. After taking the stage for a fiery performance of his single "Montero (Call Me By My Name)," Lil Nas X took to Twitter on Monday to respond to people complaining about his appearance.
Addressing homophobic comments about his proudly sexual performance -- which concluded with him passionately kissing one of his male back-up dancers -- Lil Nas X didn't hold back when it came to defending his performance and his right to express himself.
"Y’all hate yourselves so much. Y’all live your lives trying your best to appease straight ppl," the artist wrote in response to a tweet -- which has since been deleted -- featuring a video of an older gay man slamming his shirtless appearance. "Y’all are uncomfortable with what i do because y’all are afraid they will be uncomfortable with you."
"Work on yourselves, i love who i am and whatever i decide to do. get there," he added.
"We are 4 months in and people are still acting surprised that i am being gay and sexual in performances of a song about gay and sexual s**t," Lil Nas X tweeted. "Like the song is literally about gay sex what y’all want me to do play the piano while baking a cake?"
One critic tweeted at the singer, "You’re so insecure about your sexuality you’re over compensating for it every chance you get. Gay people who know themselves don’t constantly have to remind everyone that they are gay."
Lil Nas X responded, "You’re right i am insecure about my sexuality. i still have a long way to go. i’ve never denied that."
"When you’re conditioned by society to hate yourself your entire life it takes a lot of unlearning," he added. "Which is exactly why i do what i do."
Later, the "Sun Goes Down" singer thanked his fans who were sending him messages of support, and explained, "It took me a lot of time to mentally prepare for this performance."
"While on stage i was trembling knowing that i was performing something like that in front of my straight peers. even during the performance i was having a hard time calming my nerves. thank you guys for the love," he wrote.
In response to a Twitter user who asked why he "forced" himself to perform the song the way he did if he was nervous, Lil Nas X wrote, "If you don’t push yourself outside of your comfort zone you will never grow."
One common critique came from people bemoaning how children could have been watching, and implying that his performance was somehow negatively impacting kids.
"That’s not my problem, stop letting ur kids watch the bet awards n***a put on cocomelon," Lil Nas X wrote.
During his performance on Sunday, Lil Nas X took on the role of a pharaoh as he commanded the stage in an Egyptian-themed performance that saw him ascend to his throne while accompanied by all-male back-up dancers.
ET talked to the "Montero" artist ahead of the star-studded awards show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, where hyped up his performance as the "best one" of the night.
"I can't give you much, but it's going to be the best one. No offense to all the other performers. Yeah. I mean it though, I mean it," he confidently said.
Check out the video below to hear more from the groundbreaking entertainer.
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