Carlos Santana Apologizes for Anti-Trans Comments
Carlos Santana has issued a since-deleted apology after footage of him making anti-trans remarks during a concert in New Jersey in late July surfaced earlier this week, saying that his speech didn’t reflect his goal of giving “respect” for everyone’s beliefs and that it was not his “intent” to hurt people with his comments.
“I am sorry for my insensitive comments. They don’t reflect that I want to honor and respect all person’s ideals and beliefs,” he wrote in a Facebook post that has since been taken down. “I realize that what I said hurt people and that was not my intent. I sincerely apologize to the transgender community and everyone I offended.”
He continued, “Here is my personal goal that I strive to achieve every day. I want to honor and respect all person’s ideals and beliefs whether they are LGBTQ or not. This is the planet of free will and we have all been given this gift. I will now pursue this goal to be happy and have fun, and for everyone to believe what they want and follow in your hearts without fear. It takes courage to grow and glow in the light that you are and to be true, genuine, and authentic. We grow and learn to shine our light with Love and compliments.”
After taking down the statement, Santana replaced it with a post saying, “the energy of consciousness generates its own kind. hate begets hate. love begets love.”
As confirmed to Consequence by multiple individuals who attended the show, Santana paused during his concert at Hard Rock Live at the Etess Arena in Atlantic City to give his speech, in which he said, “When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are. Later on, when you grow out of it, you see things, and you start believing that you could be something that sounds good, but you know it ain’t right. Because a woman is a woman and a man is a man. That’s it. Whatever you wanna do in the closet, that’s your business. I’m OK with that.”
He went on to shout out his “brother” Dave Chappelle, who previously called himself a member of “Team TERF” — aka a trans-exclusionary radical feminist — in his 2021 Netflix special, The Closer. One person who attended the concert told Consequence that Santana’s diatribe was “very disturbing and seemed to come out of nowhere.”
Over on Reddit, one attendee wrote, “I went to see Santana tonight in Atlantic City with my parents, my partner, and her mom. Super stoked. One song in though, Carlos Santana stopped and spent a solid 15 minutes spouting the most insane anti-trans bs I’ve maybe ever heard? … Thought music (especially with this history) was supposed to bring us together.”
See a clip of his speech below.
