Photo: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock/Instagram
What was he thinking?
By Nia Tipton — Written on Jul 22, 2022
Drake has been branded a "creep" by fans after posting a photo he'd covertly taken of an unsuspecting woman to his Instagram story.
The 35-year-old rapper, who is currently vacationing in St. Tropez, took the photo from a distance, showing a stranger who was likely trying to enjoy a meal without interuption.
Drake posted the photo of the woman and claimed he tried to AirDrop her the picture.
"Tried to airdrop this woman a pic of herself cause she's a dime”, he wrote, followed by a shrug and laughing emoji. The controversial photo was taken at a restaurant, and in the photo, the woman is sitting at a table across from a male companion and looking down at her phone.
She is clearly oblivious to the fact that a photo was taken of her, which only adds to the strangeness of the entire encounter.
Despite Drake finding the entire thing hilarious, his followers and fans did not share the same sentiment, with many calling him out and even comparing him to Joe Goldberg from the Netflix series "You."
The photo was even posted to a Reddit forum, with the user writing: "I haven’t seen anyone talking about this, this is so unbelievably creepy (Drake posted this on his IG story)."
Many people agreed that while Drake's actions were problematic for doing this to a stranger, it was made even worse because of the large platform that he has, most likely making the woman even more uncomfortable that now millions of people have seen the unsuspecting photo.
"I hate how [normalized] it’s become to take photos/videos of strangers in public. It literally gives me anxiety. From a celebrity it’s even worse because he should know better in regards to respecting privacy," one user wrote on Reddit.
A second user wrote: "Drake's been put on an enormous pedestal, his celebrity status and how he’s treated most likely repeatedly reinforces this to him. He probably thinks the woman in the picture would be [honored] to have been chosen."
"Even still, I’m confused why he’d post this, [isn't] part of his brand that he’s a ladies' man? Wouldn’t he be steering clear of anything perceived as creepy since his grooming accusations?"
While a third user chimed in that Drake could've just admired her beauty and "kept it to himself," writing: "Yes she’s beautiful but he could have kept that to himself or been a normal person and struck up a conversation instead of posting this to his Instagram where he has MILLIONS of followers who are now gonna chime in on their opinion of her.
"If that were me I would not be ok with that, regardless of the fact that it’s a “compliment."
The "Certified Lover Boy" rapper has received criticism in the past for his creepy behavior and has most notably been accused of his association with numerous underage girls.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.