Pop Star Zara Larsson Pushes Back on Joking Claim of Homophobia

When Swedish pop star Zara Larsson found herself the subject of a joking claim of homophobia, she refused to laugh along. Instead, she pushed back, asking why "white gay men" think it's funny to claim women are anti-gay, according to Buzzfeed.

The exchange got going "when TikTok user Ryan Crouse @ryanthetwat posted a video captioned, 'I mean you get what you pay for,' detailing how he stumbled upon a $1 flight to Vietnam," Buzzfeed recounted.

That Aug. 2 post saw a rejoinder from the "Never Forget You" singer 10 days later when she came onto the social media platform "with a funny story describing how she stumbled upon an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland after finding a website claiming she was the millionth visitor."

@zaralarsson #stitch with @ryan crouse ♬ original sound - Zara Larsson

In response, Crouse posted a video in which he told a yarn about Larsson hurling anti-gay abuse at him.

"I used to be a huge f***ing Zara Larsson stan," Crouse posted, according to UK newspaper the Independent. "And I went to your concert back in like what 2018, 2017."

"And we were singing ['Lush Life']," the Independent report quoted Crouse, "and you let me up on stage – this was in Washington DC – you let me up on stage and then as soon as I started singing with you, you pushed me off the stage and called me a flaming f***ing f**."

Larsson called the TikTok creator out at that point.

"Ryan, you seem like such a sweet guy," she said. "I love your content. I love your personality. And I get that it's a joke, but we need to make a study on what it is that makes white gay men feel like making a woman look homophobic is like the funniest joke ever."

@zaralarsson #stitch with @ryan crouse ♬ original sound - Zara Larsson

Larsson went on to say that Crouse's joke "was a little played out. It's 2023. Why are you still trying to, like, Millie Bobby Brown people?"

The reference, the Independent noted, was to "a bizarre 2018 trend that turned the 'Stranger Things' star into an 'anti-gay' meme."

Adding that such jokes are "always on the expense of the girlies and I don't like that," Larsson took Crouse to task, saying, "I am an ally. I've always been and I will always be."

"But also to the people who don't know me who don't, you know, get that as a joke," Larsson continued, "let's think, let's be realistic. Would it make sense for me to stand on a stage and say a slur to an audience to a crowd with live people? Would it make sense for me to jeopardize my career?"

Exhorting TikTok users to "use your brains," the "Ruin My Life" singer went on to give Crouse a taste of his own medicine, saying, "Like, it just hurts me because that's so far from my character and what I would do. So, Ryan, I'm gonna sue you."

Larsson then hastened to add: "It's a joke, it's a joke!"

Crouse posted a followup in which he said, "I think I caused a bigger stir than I meant to," BuzzFeed detailed. "I just woke up to, like, 14 emails of reporters asking me to comment on the situation."

@ryanthetwat @Zara Larsson ♬ original sound - ryan crouse

Crouse said that he'd been angling for "a funny internet exchange" before setting the record straight: "Y'all, I don't know the girl. I never went to her concert. That never happened. So, I can clear that up right now."

Crouse then took note of the responses to the exchange, which, he said, gave him an unmissable message: "Yeah, I got ate up by Zara Larsson."