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The Capital Weekender with Meg McHugh 10pm - 1am
14 October 2019, 17:49
Um, this is WILD.
The identity of one of Twitter's most popular accounts – @emoblackthot – has just been revealed and absolutely no-one saw it coming. In case you didn't know, the Twitter account was popular among the black community and offered supportive self-care advice to its 177,000 followers, including the likes of singer Kehlani and rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Many believed the person behind the account was a black woman named Nicole… but they were a man all along.
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Basically, Isaiah Hickland came forward on 11 October to confess that he was the person behind emoblackthot in an interview with Paper magazine and on YouTube. In a 20-minute video titled "The Reveal / My Story", Isaiah explained how he became emoblackthot.
It all began nearly four years ago when he first posted under the handle @madblackthot. Being a black and not openly bisexual male, Isaiah used the account to vent whilst being stuck in predominately white Texas State University, without it affecting his public image, where he was subject to homophobic and racist slurs. The @madblackthot account was suspended over a copyright infringement issue in 2017, so he then took the handle @emoblackthot over from a friend of a friend, who was indeed a black woman.
emoblackthot would support up-and-coming black creatives and tweet advice, especially for queer black women. Isaiah referred to himself as Nicole, had she/her pronouns in "her" Twitter bio, spoke about periods, having endometriosis (although these tweets have been deleted) and frequently posted their CashApp for people to send them money. Although people had their suspicions about their account (some thought it might be singer Normani or even Rihanna), no-one was expecting this.
"People were relying on me for self-care and advice, and they'd DM me whenever they were going through it," he told Paper. "Paragraphs of people in need of advice, financial help, someone to talk to. I couldn't just disappear. At the same time, I fucking hated it. I wanted to disappear."
After hyping up the big reveal for a while, fans of the account felt betrayed by the stunt Isaiah had pulled. In particular, queer black women who had shared personal stories with him and trusted him.
emoblackthot googling remedies for periods and then tweeting “damn this chamomile tea is sooo good for my cramps 😩” pic.twitter.com/yJKgpGxtXS
— hani (@haniruok) October 11, 2019
So NasMaraj (now known as Lil Nas X) and Emoblackthot were friends. NasMaraj let go of that account and became Lil Nas X. Emoblackthot obviously wanted to do the same, but forgot that the only reason he is famous is because we thought he was a black woman. Xoxo, Gossip Girl https://t.co/45hKBkIKHd
— Kachi Thee ACTUAL Stallion (@GapToothGinny) October 11, 2019
Regarding #EmoBlackthot:
— 🔥🖼Valerie Complex🖼🔥 (@ValerieComplex) October 11, 2019
Too many folks don’t give a shit about protecting Black women but always want to emulate us, profit from us, bash us, and lie on us.
Black women were vulnerable and were transparent with this clout chaser and the end result ...just fucking trash man
eye feel weird about emoblackthot because i liked that a girl was like forcing me to not be an awful person to myself but now that i know it’s a man i’m not listening
— carlos (@deadluvrboy) October 11, 2019
emoblackthot tell us now pls u have the answers pic.twitter.com/YZAl0hMeL8
— SPECIAL ED KID. (@dyingsince97) October 11, 2019
emoblackthot sittin at home tweeting about period advice pic.twitter.com/EJOpfi4dKX
— elver galarga (@josueisbaby) October 11, 2019
can we talk about how emoblackthot had people gang up against those copycat accounts, on the idea that they were stealing from black WOMEN?! really had large, verified accounts calling out emoblackthot’s enemies over the belief that they were defending a black woman... pic.twitter.com/aAr3dw6Htx
— maybe: diane (@dianelyssa) October 11, 2019
nobody:
— VON DIOR (@diortweets) October 11, 2019
emoblackthot: pic.twitter.com/gRvTZimafE
Emoblackthot/Isaiah defrauded people by crowdfunding claiming to be a Cis Queer Black Woman.
— Keshav Kant (@MxKantEven) October 11, 2019
Now that betrayal of trust is going to ruin how Queer people, specifically Black Queer & Trans people/ people of colour crowdfund for themselves.
They might have to risk their safety..
OK
— elexus jionde. (@Lexual__) October 11, 2019
Emoblackthot was pretending to be a black woman. “She/her” in the bio and giving period advice. This is undeniable. In the Paper article, he claims to be too anxious for public attention before sliding into promo for his DJ/Rihanna “jack of all trades” career. A total scam. pic.twitter.com/O44tnujbq6
OK
— elexus jionde. (@Lexual__) October 11, 2019
Emoblackthot was pretending to be a black woman. “She/her” in the bio and giving period advice. This is undeniable. In the Paper article, he claims to be too anxious for public attention before sliding into promo for his DJ/Rihanna “jack of all trades” career. A total scam. pic.twitter.com/O44tnujbq6
Shortly after the announcement, Isaiah apologised on Twitter from the emoblackthot account. He tweeted: "To black women: I want to sincerely apologize. the intention of my actions doesn't matter, the impact & how they make you feel does. I take full accountability for my actions and I'm sorry."
In the video, Isaiah said he hopes that despite revealing his identity people would continue to support him, but he would understand if they didn't. He now plans to take a digital detox and hopes to get into singing, acting or being a beauty influencer. He'd especially like to become a DJ.
For now, the @emoblackthot account appears to have been deleted from Twitter and the majority of its tweets were wiped just before the reveal. Meanwhile Isaiah's YouTube video also seems to have been removed.