David Draiman Defends Lil Nas X After Conservative TV Host’s Condemnation

David Draiman, the lead singer for the rock band Disturbed, came to the defense of Lil Nas X this week after conservative TV host Greg Kelly condemned the rapper on Twitter.

In an April 4 tweet, Kelly, a talking head for the conservative channel Newsmax TV, appeared to equate the openly gay entertainer with a perceived corruption in American culture, and he called the rapper a fool "with zero talent." The remarks accompanied an image of Lil Nas X performing in an ornate half-shirt at Sunday's (April 3) 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

See the photo down toward the bottom of this post.

Tagging Kelly's account, Draiman responded in a tweet on Tuesday (April 5), "News flash @gregkellyusa, artists have been doing things like this for decades. Not sure why it bothers you when @LilNasX does it. Don't like it? Don't watch. You be you @LilNasX."

For his part, Lil Nas X had already replied to the TV personality, "damn greg all i did was wear a crop top this time." He appended his retort with flippant sobbing emojis.

Kelly's original tweet from Monday said, "Lil NAS has a BIG PROBLEM (And so does America) — knock yourself out NAS. You're a little FOOL with zero talent!!!!"

As suggested by BuzzFeed, it's unclear why the Newsmax host was so incensed at Lil Nas X and, presumably, his Grammys performance, other than a general distaste for the implicated immodesty. Conservative voices have spoken out against Lil Nas X before, such as when the rapper's limited "Satan Shoes," which were quickly taken off the market, sent social media into a frenzy.

Like Kelly, Draiman often uses Twitter to speak his mind on current issues. The Disturbed singer recently reinstated his account after taking a sabbatical from the social network. Disturbed are currently working on a new album, their follow-up to 2018's Evolution.