Photo by Aliane Schwartzhaupt on Unsplash

Machine Gun Kelly, a 32-year-old who got his start in rap, has a net worth of $25 million – which will only go up if he marries on-and-off girlfriend Megan Fox. He sports a new leather jacket, professionally bleached hair, a million dollar car collection, and music processed to oblivion.

What’s not to like? Well, a lot.

Musicians who proclaim that they are anarchists while profiting off a capitalist system (making an obscene amount of money) are simply phony. To be fair, MGK didn’t grow up rich like he is now, and he does have experience working service jobs, which shows that he has lived as a member of the working class. And I admit I enjoy his movies. 

But come on. The pink anarchy symbol on his album cover is just bad. 

The music isn’t the main issue, though. Mediocre music sells as long as there’s a market for it, which there is. A lot of teens are looking to ‘rebel,’ and MGK offers an extremely accessible way of doing that. 

But the real issue with Machine Gun Kelly isn’t his music, his hypocrisy, or his aesthetic. It’s his disturbing comments and inclinations towards underage girls. 

In a now-deleted tweet from 2010, MGK write: “I wish 13/14/15-year-old girls weren’t allowed to be hot, so I wouldn’t feel like such a creeper when I look at them … I’m still 19.” 

Two years later, he tweeted about Eminem’s daughter, who was 16 at the time, saying she was “hot as f*ck.” Even worse, in a 2013 interview with Fuse (when he was 23), he talked extensively about his crush on and attraction to Kendall Jenner, who was a minor at the time, claiming he “wouldn’t hesitate to have sex with her.” 

He made light of it, showing that he knew it was wrong. But rather than trying to improve, he made excuses. He tried to justify his statements by naming other famous men, like Axel Rose, who have dated young girls as older men.

Some people have called this out. Far Out Mag reported on tweets by Alice Glass calling out MGK’s creepy behavior. But none of this has damaged his career, or gained much traction in the media. 

If you have to defend artists that you like, it’s really not worth it. Especially if it’s MGK.