Words: Will Stroude
Jaden Smith has confirmed that he is in a relationship with US rapper Tyler, the Creator.
The singer, actor and model, 20, generated headlines earlier this month after referring to Tyler the Creator as his “f**king boyfriend” during a gig as the ‘Who Dat Boy’ rapper watched from the front row.
“I just wanna say Tyler, The Creator is the best friend in the world”, Smith said to the crowd.
“And I love him so f**king much, and I wanna tell you guys something, I wanna tell you, Tyler doesn’t wanna say, but Tyler is my motherf**king boyfriend.”
While many speculated that Jaden may have been joking, the son of the son of actor Will Smith and actress Jada Pinkett-Smith seemingly cleared up any confusion as he appeared on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio on Friday (November 16).
“I recently said that Tyler, The Creator is my boyfriend and that’s true”, he said.
Smith, who previously dated model Sarah Synder from 2015-17, has frequently been praised for challenging gender norns through fashion, but has never publicly commented on his sexuality.
His new beau Tyler attracted controversy early in his career for repeatedly using homophobic slurs in his lyrics, before later appearing to come out in several songs in which he alluded to having an attraction to men.
The 27-year-old, who was offensively branded a “f****t” by fellow rapper Eminem on his latest album Kamikaze, previously described his sexuality as a “grey area”.
“Even though I’m considered loud and out there, I’m private, which is weird dichotomy,” Tyler said in September.
“The juxtaposition of loud and quiet is weird.”