Back in February, you might’ve heard about an ashy-ass rapper named Boosie Badazz who said some goofy-ass shit about NBA great Dwyane Wade’s 13-year-old daughter, Zaya. It was disgusting, it was transphobic and you likely read all about it here at The Root.
But for those out of the loop, after Dwayne and his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, introduced their daughter Zaya to the world—according to Dwyane, Zaya came home one day, informed the family that she was “ready to live her truth,” took the name Zaya (formerly Zion) and expressed her desire “to be referenced as ‘she’ and ‘her’—Boosie Dumbazz opted out of minding his own business and instead delivered an unsolicited Instagram rant:
“Dwyane Wade, you gone too fucking far, dawg,” Boosie said in a video posted on Tuesday. “That is a male. A 12-year-old. At 12, they don’t even know what they next meal gon’ be. They don’t have shit figured out yet. He might meet a woman, anything, at 16 and fall in love with her. But his dick be gone—how he gon’—like, bruh, you going too far, dawg.”
Despite the fact that Zaya has said exactly zero things about a sex-change operation, Boosie continued letting the world know he knows exactly zero things about trans identity.
“Don’t cut his dick off, bruh. Like, bruh, for real, if he gon’ be gay, let him be gay,” Boosie said. “But don’t cut his dick off, bruh. Don’t—and dress him as a woman, dawg. He’s 12 years old. He’s not up there year. He hasn’t made his final decisions yet. Don’t cut his fucking dick off, Dwyane Wade, bruh. You fucking trippin’, dawg.”
While Dwayne and Gabby have been too preoccupied with being loving, supportive parents to even entertain this nonsense, in the time since the three-time NBA champion has finally addressed the situation during a recent interview with Central Ave.
After host Julissa Bermudez asked Wade about his feelings on Mike Tyson defending Zaya—Boosie was a guest on Tyson’s Hotboxin’ With Mike Tyson podcast in October and was called out by the boxing legend for not minding his damn business—Wade expressed his appreciation for Iron Mike coming to his family’s defense.
“I actually talked to Mike about that earlier in the pandemic, we had a conversation,” Wade said. “I appreciated it from the standpoint of Mike is someone who has never tried to be perfect. He’s someone who has learned from this journey of life. He’s one of those people that he’s so smart, he’s so educated and knowledgeable about life. And for him to be able to drop that nugget on the world, to me, it was great to hear him say that.”
He added, “I understand that everyone has their own path and journey towards accepting things. I’ve never came out and said anything to anybody that feels a certain way about me or someone else in my family or my loved ones because they don’t know us, they don’t know our hearts, they definitely don’t know Zaya. All I do is what my mama say: Just pray for them.”
During Boosie’s interview with Tyson, the former heavyweight champ was pretty blunt: “Who are you? What happened to you that made you think you can make a comment about somebody else’s life? I used to think I could make a comment about somebody else’s life.”
Boosie admitted that his mother shared Tyson’s sentiments before doubling down on being wrong and strong.
“I said it and I stand on what I said.”
Thankfully, Zaya has more important things to worry about, like serving as a beacon of light for the LGBTQ community who will continue to educate and inspire millions as she ascends into adulthood. And with parents like Dwyane and Gabrielle in her corner, the sky’s the limit.