ABC/Mark LevineWho knew kissing a girl would lead to so much drama?
As previously reported, the New York Times ran an interview with American Idol contestant Benjamin Glaze — the kid who was surprise-smooched by Katy Perry on the Sunday premiere of the show — in which he seemed to be quite upset by the kiss. Glaze, who told the judges he’d never kissed a girl before, told the Times, “I was raised in a conservative family and I was uncomfortable immediately. I wanted my first kiss to be special.”
Some viewers were offended by the kiss, which the Times described as “unwanted” — some even went as far as accusing Katy of sexual harassment. Now, Benjamin has taken to Instagram to clarify his feelings about the situation.
“The way certain articles are worded is not done by me, and my true intentions are not accurately represented in every article,” he writes in a lengthy post. “I am not complaining about the kiss, I am very honored and thankful to have been apart of American Idol.”
After noting that he wished he had performed better, Glaze added, “I do not think I was sexually harassed by Katy Perry and I am thankful for the judges comments and critiques. I was uncomfortable in a sense of how I have never been kissed before and was not expecting it.”
He concluded the post by saying, “My main goal is to reach people through the universal love of music and not cause strife or anger against anyone or about any situation!”
Commenters continued to insist that the kiss was inappropriate. As one wrote, “In light of the harassment allegation in Hollywood at the moment, Katy ought to have been more aware of what she was doing…kissing a stranger without permission isn’t acceptable.”
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