Target not carrying Frank Ocean's Channel Orange; manager insinuates homophobia

Some mild controversy surrounding Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, from last night.

American retail giants Target have refused to stock the album, apparently due to its week-early release and iTunes exclusive. Ocean’s manager, however, has insinuated that the decision is due to Ocean’s recent Tumblr post, in which he revealed that his first love was a man.

Christian Clancy, who manages Odd Future as a group, as well as Trash Talk and others, posted on Twitter: “Target has refused to carry Franks album due to iTunes exclusive. Interesting since they also donate to non equal rights organizations.” He’s since deleted the Tweet.

Target was involved in a related controversy last year, when a $10 million marketing deal between Lady Gaga and the store was cancelled, reportedly due to Target’s weak support for gay rights. Target have, in the past, donated big money to MN Forward, a lobby group that supported Tom Emmer – a figure publicly opposed to gay marriage – in his 2010 bid for Minnesota governor. When the deal was first announced, Gaga stated that Target “have to start affiliating themselves with LGTB charity groups … Our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they’ve made supporting those groups.”

Speaking to MTV News, a spokesperson for Target claimed that the decision to not stock Channel Orange is due to store policy: “we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, so our selection of new releases is dedicated to physical CDs rather than titles that are realized digitally in advance of the street date.” It should be added, however, that this rules did not apply to Watch the Throne. On the other side of the coin, Target have donated to pro-same sex marriage charities before, and Clancy has since reprimanded himself for the comment, posting “note to self: Take your own advice. Emotional knee-jerk reacting isn’t the move.”

Channel Orange, already one of the year’s most discussed and debated albums, was released this Monday, and can be streamed in full here.

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