On Friday, December 6, former One Direction singer Liam Payne — who just released his first ever solo album, LP1 — received major backlash from LQBTQ+ fans on social media over one of the new tracks, “Both Ways.”
Some fans claimed that the 26-year-old was “fetishizing” bisexual women in the controversial song, which seemingly details a sexual encounter with two women.
“My girl, she like it both ways,” the lyrics read. “No, no, I don’t discriminate / Bring it back to my place.”
Many fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts about the lyrics, and some claimed that the new song is adding to the harmful stereotypes about bisexual people. #LiamPayneIsOverParty even trended worldwide on the social media site.
“Imagine idolizing someone for YEARS and then them FETISHIZING your sexuality,” one fan wrote with another adding, “As a bisexual woman, it was extremely uncomfortable reading the lyrics to ‘Both Ways’ by Liam Payne. He openly fetishizes the fact that a woman likes boys and girls, and he even mentions bi women in threesomes which furthers the stereotype that all bi [people] are only into that.”
“I’m sick and tired of people thinking my sexuality is made for threesomes,” one other listener explained on Twitter. “Bisexual women are NOT for your sexual fantasies.”
This isn’t the first time Liam has received backlash on social media because of his songs. Back in September, fans accused him of copying other artists after his song “Stack It Up” sounded almost exactly like Selena Gomez‘s single “Same Old Love.”
“I love Liam and his voice but his new song sounds like he just sang over ‘Same Old Love’s instrumental, I don’t know how Selena is not credited TBH,” one fan wrote on Twitter after the song was released.
Liam has yet to comment on the fans’ reaction to “Both Ways.”
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.
