Does catfishing only involve dating or any kind of online identity lie? If the latter, we have a big catfishing story for you. Namely, one bisexual man has set Black Twitter aflame with his National Coming Out Day reveal.
For several years now, since about 2014, the Twitter account “emoblackthot” has been a staple of Twitter’s Black spaces. The account, which was allegedly owned by a bisexual Black woman named Nicole amassed several thousand followers, mostly women, and delivered regular self-care, skincare, and fandom advice. In terms of the latter, the account had become so prominent in its discovery of lesser-known talent that on the rise artists like Megan Thee Stallion were aware of the page.
But all of that blew up in Black Twitter’s face on Friday after 23-year-old Isaiah Hickland came out as the real owner of the account. Hickland made this revelation through a Paper magazine profile, in which he simultaneously came out to the world as bisexual.
“I fucked up and I lied, and I’m extremely sorry for it, but I want to take accountability for it and, hopefully, people will forgive me for that,” he tells the outlet. “But, if not, I get it. All the good, all the creatives I’ve helped, the GoFundMes I’ve boosted, to me, it means nothing [to me] because I lied. All that good is outweighed by the fact I’m hiding behind a facade.”
He then added:
“But it’s also my fault. I could’ve [handled this whole thing] better. I had good intentions, but I still hid behind an anonymous identity and hid who I was — I feel like I fucked up majorly.”
As you can imagine, Twitter users didn’t take too kindly to being lied to for years.
While one should always take caution with anonymous people met on the internet, Twitter users had followed “emoblackthot” with the belief that it was run by a woman for years. Hickland had also crowdfunded under his “Nicole” persona while complaining about her menstrual cycle. Because of that, there were a lot of upset followers after Hickland’s reveal.
Black women trusted you, confided in you & you took advantage of them, it’s emotional abuse.
You complained about menstrual cycles, took their money & etc.
Then you use @PaperMagazine on #ComingOutDay to reveal that you are a man & come out as bisexual? Trash! I’m disgusted!
— Jerome Trammel (she/her he/him) (@MrJeromeTrammel) October 11, 2019
So you telling me that people who aren't black women get to have a successful platform by pretending to be black women????
But black women don't get shit besides of being taken advantage of???
K.#emoblackthot pic.twitter.com/2HhK1McQi4
— We Live In Hell (ArmyHottie) (@minyoongipathos) October 11, 2019
I worry about the transphobia that will result from this. https://t.co/UnzOG5lV6j
— Yves' Pinned Tweet (@AdamantxYves) October 12, 2019
Stranger still, some Twitter users complained because they had been a part of female-focused group chats with Hickland under the guise of “Nicole.” In those “girl talk” group chats, personal information and even private nude photos were shared as a sort of encouragement attempt and body positivity experience.
Let me tell you something. He was in a group chat where black women shard nudes, ppl knew about emo being a woman and said nothing, and he frequently used nudes of some random woman.
Someone get a lawyer and sue this nigga there has to be a case somewhere in there
— valerie complex (@ValerieComplex) October 12, 2019
SIS it was a gc for BW where we would talk about anything & everything related to being a black woman & this gc has been alive & well since like 2014 and EBT was added sometime between then & now. one day we all just shared nudes hyping each other up and HE (EBT) participated. https://t.co/8yT5ChnM5b
— sacred ;P (@YNGH0T) October 11, 2019
Idk how I feel about EBT being in a GC with women who shared nudes. And getting nudes from women because women thought he was a black woman. And To be in so many intimate spaces where black women shared? No.
— 💦BALLON KNOTZ💦 (@KatHeartwell) October 11, 2019
“To black women: i want to sincerely apologize,” Hickland wrote in a now-deleted tweet after the backlash hit. “The intention of my actions doesn’t matter, the impact & how they make you feel does. i take full accountability for my actions and i’m sorry.”
While Hickland created a YouTube video titled “The Reveal / My Story,” to explain how “emoblackthot” was created and confess to being the person behind the account, he later deleted it. In addition, both the “emoblackthot” Twitter account and Hickland’s personal account were also deleted.
So, it seems that Hickland is taking a break from the internet for a while. And with all of the anger and upset feelings targeted towards him, perhaps that’s for the best.
Sources: Paper Magazine, Aazios, Out Magazine
