Isaiah Rashad has for the first time addressed an apparent sex tape leak from last year which seemed to out him as gay, during his set at Coachella on Saturday (April 16).
Last year, a tape seemingly of Rashad was leaked and showed the subject being intimate with other men.
Until now, Rashad hadn’t publicly addressed the tape but opened his Coachella set with a powerful video that saw a host of artists discussing the alleged tape in the leak’s aftermath.
The video montage saw The Game, DJ Akademiks and more discussing the leaked video, with one unnamed voice saying: “The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him. However, it backfired. When his video leaked, his streams and everything went up. He’s up on the charts now.”
Isaiah Rashad’s intro video at Coachella: “The purpose of doing that was to embarrass him. However, that backfired. When his video leaked, his dreams and everything went up.” pic.twitter.com/xnPUzuftmT
— Pigeons & Planes (@PigsAndPlans) April 17, 2022
Later on in the set Rashad appeared to indirectly reference the tape himself, telling the crowd: “I see all the messages and all that shit, all the positivity,” Rashad said. “Y’all n****s done kept me alive these last couple months.”
Isaiah Rashad gets emotional during his performance, "I've seen y'all messages and shit, y'all niggas kept me alive these last couple months" pic.twitter.com/Cdc3vKRGMZ
— SOUND (@itsavibe) April 17, 2022
Elsewhere at Coachella, Friday night was headlined by Harry Styles, who was joined on stage by Shania Twain to perform her hits ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman!’ and ‘You’re Still The One’.
Last night (April 17), weekend one of the festival was closed out by Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd, with tracks from Abel Tesfaye’s new album ‘Dawn FM’ given their live debuts during the set. The pair had replaced Kanye West as headliners just a few weeks ago.
Also at the festival, K-pop icons 2NE1 reunited on stage for their first performance together in seven years and Megan Thee Stallion debuted a brand new song, while Arcade Fire played a secret set on the first day of the event, and Måneskin covered Britney Spears.
Check back at NME all weekend for more reviews, news, interviews, photos and more from Coachella 2022.