Daniel Caesar recently received backlash on social media for comments he made during an Instagram Live on March 19. If you don’t know much about the entertainer, learn five things about him below.
1. Daniel was slammed on social media due to his comments about race on an Instagram Live. The singer defended online personality YesJulz for comments she made about two black women musicians, Scottie Beam and Karen Civil. “Why are we being so mean to Julz,” Daniel asked his Instagram Live audience. “Why are we being so mean to white people right now? It’s a serious question. Why is that we’re allowed to be disrespectful and rude to everybody else, and when anybody returns that energy to us… I don’t want to be treated like I can’t take a joke!”
Daniel began to see backlash during his Instagram Live story, and responded to critics, “White people have been mean to us in the past, yeah, but what are you going to do about it? Tell me what you’re going to do about that? There’s no answer, other than creating and understanding and keeping it moving. You have to bridge that gap.” Daniel said during the story that he was “f****** drunk.” After the Instagram Live, Twitter users responded to Daniel’s comments, posting memes and sharing their frustration about the singer’s statements.
2. He’s Canadian. Daniel was born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada on April 5, 1995, making him 23 years old currently. His birth name was Ashton Simmons, but he uses the name Daniel Caesar professionally.
3. Daniel is an R&B singer-songwriter who has recently become well-known. The singer put out his first EP, Praise Break, in 2014, and his debut album, Freudian, was released in August 2017.
4. Even though he’s a relatively new artist, he has already received critical acclaim for his work. Daniel was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2018 – Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance – for single “Get You.” While he didn’t win that year, Daniel took home a Grammy from the award show in 2019 for the category Best R&B Performance for his feature on the song “Best Part” with H.E.R.
5. He has around one million Instagram followers, despite his minimal posting on his account. Followers of his include model Kendall Jenner, 23, singer Joe Jonas, 29, activist and actor Jesse Williams, 37, and more.