Frank Ocean responds to criticism of his invite-only queer party PrEP+
- PublishedFri, Oct 18, 2019, 20:48
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- "Not funded by Gilead Sciences. Funded by Blonded, independently."
- Frank Ocean has taken to Tumblr to defend the queer party he threw in New York last night. The event was called PrEP+—named for the effective HIV prevention drug—and was meant as an "homage to what could have been of the 1980s' NYC club scene if the drug PrEP... had been invented in that era." The party was invite-only and details were secret. It took place at the techno club Basement. In his post, Ocean denied that the party was funded by Gilead Sciences, the drugmaker behind PrEP. "Funded by Blonded, independently. Let's just get that out of the way," he says. "I'm an artist, it's core to my job to imagine realities that don't necessarily exist, and it's a joy to," Ocean adds. "A couple days before we threw the party, I was discussing this subject with my team and one of the architects I work with thought that PrEP as a drug had reached '100 percent saturation' so far [in] awareness. I thought he was dead wrong so I asked a friend (who I won't name haha) if he knew what PrEP was and his response was 'isn't that some type of Viagra or something?' My ex who I was with for several years didn't know about it when we first met at a gay club in LA. Awareness isn't always what we’d hope it would be." "I saw someone say that this was a PR stunt etc etc, pshhh bitch [please] come get a drink next time, and I'll put several barstools out so you can have as many seats as you need," he says. Read the full note on Tumblr. Read Kiana Mickles' review of the first PrEP+ party.