When Amber Rose spoke to a crowd of supporters during SlutWalk in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend, she opened up about two famous rappers who have publicly shamed her in the past.
“Unfortunately, I was extremely slut-shamed," she said, alluding to disparaging comments Kanye West made earlier this year on The Breakfast Club radio show. "I was called 'nothing but a stripper.'"
"[He said] why would he ever be interested in me, I’m just a bald-head stripper from Philly," she went on. "I was a golddigger; apparently he had to take 30 showers after being with me. That’s what he said."
But it wasn't until Rose started talking about how her estranged ex, Wiz Khalifa, made her feel judged that the she became emotional. “If anyone had been going through a separation, or have ever been divorced, you know there’s a lot of feelings involved and it’s a very difficult time,” she said to the crowd, who cheered her on. “[Khalifa] went on to make a song saying that he ‘fell in love with a stripper, but fell out of love quicker.’"
"As you can imagine, him being the love of my life, regardless if we’re going through a separation or not, that was extremely hurtful.” Rose had to take a pause in the middle of her speech; it was clearly painful for her to relive the slight, even though Khalifa has since apologized.
But, the 31-year-old also decided to turn SlutWalk — an event she created herself to help raise awareness for how harmful slut-shaming can really be — into an opportunity to heal old wounds. "I want to forgive Kanye for what he said about me. I want to let all that negativity go," she said, adding that she had accepted Khalifa's apology already.
"I suggest that you guys do the same, and I’ll tell you why," she compelled the crowd. "Because they’re ignorant at times. People are ignorant, and you have to be the bigger person, and be the positive person to forgive and move on and help other people around you that have been through the same thing.”
See Amber Rose's speech in its entirety below.