For all those who loved Donald Glover's new video for "This Is America" under his musical alias Childish Gambino — and there were quite a lot — there were others that felt differently. Of course, that's to be expected, but Glover admitted that it doesn't make it any easier to hear the criticism.
While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his star turn in the upcoming Star Wars standalone, Solo and the season 2 finale of Atlanta, Glover joked that his main goal with the "This Is America" video was to just beat Keyboard Cat's video views. (Rest in peace.) But, as host Jimmy Kimmel pointed out, he ended up inspiring a whole lot of think pieces that wanted to analyze every little part of the video, which many perceive to be about America's gun problem. (Glover isn't saying either way.) Sorry to tell you, he hasn't read yours. "Some friends have sent a couple," Glover said when asked if he'd seen the coverage. "But to be real, I haven't been on the internet since Thursday night before the Saturday Night Live."
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Spending a week away from the internet is a great way to ignore the hype, but even on weeks when he is plugged in Glover likes to stay away from the hot takes. "I don't like to be in all the mix," he said. "It's bad for me. I'm like sensitive. I'm really sensitive."
The audience laughed, but it's not often that artists admit that criticism hurts and usually doesn't make for better art. Glover's the kind of guy who says "let it be" because one negative review or comment leads him to do things he regrets. "I see one negative thing," Glover explained, "and I track that person down. I'll go into their Instagram and be like 'you're not so great! That baby's not even that cute!'"
Let's be honest, we've all done it. Well, maybe not the insulting babies part. But now we that we know Glover's done it too we feel very seen.
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