After the black man George Floyd died due to police brutality, America was shocked. Many celebrities took to their social media platforms to raise awareness for racism and police brutality, Doncaster born Yungblud was one of them. The 22-year-old is known for speaking up about social problems and so it’s no surprise that he joined the protests. The singer was in LA when lockdown first started, which is why he could join one of the biggest demonstrations.
After tweeting nonstop about the death of George Floyd and encouraging his fans to sign petitions, Yungblud announced on Twitter that he would be protesting. “see you at pan pacific park. bring your fuckin voice”, he tweeted on May 30, followed by a tweet made 10 hours ago, stating “see you in santa monica. keep shouting.” The singer attended the protest together with his musician ex-girlfriend Halsey. Halsey, real name Ashley Frangipane, got hit by a rubber bullet during the protest, sharing the shocking experiences on Twitter afterwards.
Yungblud also took to Twitter to applaud the singer for her brave courage: “i need to say halsey u were incredible today. u acted fearlessly and selflessly. u were so brave and inspirational. when innocent people were unlawfully wounded, u were there with a medical kit bandaging them up. u didn’t think about yourself for one moment. i am proud to know u.” He also shared an Instagram story of the protest in which the protestors are sitting on the street in front of the armed police men, when all of a sudden the vision gets blurry as Yungblud gets up to run away from the scene after what seems to be police starting to shoot.
yungblud standing on top of a car in the middle of the los angeles protests. this is what people with large platforms should be doing pic.twitter.com/wbXzxSKomo
— ً (@duasgay) May 30, 2020
In a video released a day before he first joined the demonstrations, the singer told his fans: “Racism is a subject that should not be strayed away from. Yes, I am a white person, and I have never felt oppressed for the colour of my skin. But I find when racism comes up as a subject, people become uncomfortable and feel like they have to keep their mouth shut. Now is not a time to keep your mouth shut. Now is a time for change. Black lives fucking matter. There is literally a war going on right now outside your doorstep, it’s not at the other side of the world, and it’s time for a change. Like this senseless hate needs to stop and we are the ones who can actually put a stop to it.”
Halsey later informed her fans in a detailed thread on Twitter about what happened to her and Yungblud at the protests. “fired rubber bullets at us. we did not breach the line. hands were up. unmoving. and they gassed and fired”, the singer tells her followers. And just like Yungblud thanked her for her courage, she also thanked him: And a big personal thank you to yungblud who literally ran exposed in front of rounds being shot to drag wounded people to safety without even thinking twice.”
The shocking video material from protests all across America have also left the rest of the world in shock. Though it definitely is a good thing that celebrities like Yungblud and Halsey are using their privileged status to help and protest, we hope that they’re staying safe.
do everything you can to keep this movement alive. keep talking, keep peacefully protesting, keep changing opinions. be on the true, right, side of history. fight for the good in this world.
— YUNGBLUD (@yungblud) June 1, 2020
