A few days ago, Twitter’s admired celebrity, @emoblackthot, tweeted that they were going to reveal their identity soon in an ominous tweet. Their followers were ecstatic. People will finally found out who is behind Twitter’s most prominent self-care and self-love account.
https://twitter.com/emoblackthot/status/1182016426577743879?s=21
Then on, October 11, 2019, at 10:04 AM @emoblackthot tweeted a link to an exclusive interview they did with Paper Magazine revealing his true identity. That is when the world met Isaiah Hickland. This interview has received mixed reviews from social media. Hickland’s loyal followers came to his support:
FOR REAL??????
I AM SO PROUD OF YOU AND WILL BE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU THROUGH THICK AND THIN. LET'S DO THIS.
— Miche⁷ (@MicheBangtan) October 11, 2019
i am now an isaiah hickland stan account
— oscarito (@awhscur) October 11, 2019
However, there has been some confusion among people who’ve been following Hickland for about four years (which is how long Hickland says he’s been running the account.) The majority of his followers, believed he was a woman, a black woman. And what made them think that? Well, over the past few years, Hickland has been tweeting about experiences that mainly women go through, such as experiencing menstrual cramps. He even stated that his name was “Nicole” and even went as far to actively posed as a black woman and use she/her pronouns. And Twitter users are not happy:
https://twitter.com/jaureguijojo/status/1182682674890186757?s=21
Since this tweet is coming up, I'll say it again. MADBLACKTHOT presented themselves as Nicole/Nikkol to not only myself but other people in group chats. They posted pictures of a Black woman. So in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM am I involved in this. I and others were lied to.
Thanks. https://t.co/dT5tRa510f
— HOT BABIE HIPPO 🧃is on hiatus (@melaninbarbie) October 11, 2019
The idea of a light-skinned black man pretending to be a dark-skinned black woman, and claiming to understand black women’s emotions and problems, is concerning to think about. His main following base is black women, and many of them have gone online to express their distaste for the whole situation. After receiving an intense amount of backlash, Hickland has tweeted an apology to all black women:
https://twitter.com/emoblackthot/status/1182681560136519681?s=21
He also expressed in the interview that he feels like he needs to take accountability for his actions by being honest with himself, and he hopes that people will eventually forgive him. Question is: Is cosplaying as a black woman and profiting off of it forgivable? Because Isaiah Hickland’s problematic tendencies don’t end there. While faking an entire identity, Hickland catfished his close friends by sending them pictures of random black women, convinced his supporters to donate money to his GoFundMe and Cashapp, manipulated black women in intimate setting online, and lied about suffering from endometriosis.
https://twitter.com/biackgiris/status/1182685539981561857?s=21
Nah cause people really donated to that emoblackthot account thinking they was helping a queer black woman get through tough times……. yeah I just got mad
— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@keyon) October 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/sunhashira/status/1182682396308705287?s=21
im not gonna allow y’all to call me or any of my mutuals idiots for believing emoblackthot was a woman. he posted a picture a while ago and was talking about having endometriosis.
— s (@moisturizedRN) October 11, 2019
Hickland’s “Nicole” persona touched the hearts of many people. Individuals on Twitter have expressed how Hickland catfishing them for years, under the guise that Hickland was an understanding, supportive woman of color that genuinely cared for her online friends. This unwelcome reveal has thousands of users perplexed, upset, and angry at the issue. Why does Isaiah Hickland get an exclusive interview about posing as a black woman? Should he face legal consequences for committing fraud? Is he a fraud? Where’s the real Nicole? Is there a “real” Nicole? People have all these questions about one of the biggest social media scandals of the year, that may never get answered. Social media is divided on the issue but one thing everyone can seem to agree on is: Creating a fake online persona is not cool.
Featured Image via Phone.Instantcheckmate
