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Lil Nas X responds to protesters outside his concert by ordering them pizza

Sometimes the best way to fight hate is with kindness coupled with a little bit of petty.

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Lil Nas X gives protesters pizza.

Lil Naz X really is a gift to this world, but that obviously depends on who you ask because for some people his existence seems to chafe some uncomfortable places. Recently people decided they just couldn't allow the singer to live his best life without him knowing that they did not approve, so they protested outside of his concert. Lil Nas X could've been pretty upset about the protest and let it ruin his show but he did the complete opposite. The "Old Town Road" singer decided to respond with an unexpected gesture of kindness by ordering the group pizza.

Depending on the topping, the gesture could've been seen as hostile. Did it have pineapples or anchovies? Those toppings are so controversial, pizzas could've been launched back into the venue out of sheer spite. Alas, there was no launching of pizzas or even eating of pizzas as the protesters declined the offer and sent them back with his team. Interestingly enough, the singer didn't even know the protesters were there until his fans repeatedly tagged him on Twitter with videos of the protest. But who protests outside of a concert venue when you can enjoy the free parking lot music?

No, it's not the people from "Footloose," but that was a valid guess. It was actually a group of people who just don't like that the singer is gay, even if his music makes you involuntarily move your booty. The protesters were holding up signs that contained biblical wording like "repent and believe." This isn't the first time Lil Nas X has run into vocal naysayers, and he usually responds with a cheeky clap back.

The rapper partnered with MSCHF to make Satan Shoes and gave the red man downstairs a lap dance in his music video for "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" because people supposedly told him to go to hell. If there were ever a petty contest, Lil Nas X would be crowned Petty King, so the change-up seemed a bit surprising. Instead of clapping back, he sent food, which probably confused the protesters more than anything else.

No worries though, if you live for the pettiness level that the singer consistently delivers, he took a trip back to Pettyville when the group returned his pizzas. The unapologetic singer wrote in a tweet "update: they didn't want the pizza but I accidentally fell in love with one of the homophobic protesters." I'm sure that tweet is keeping this particular protester up at night thinking the star is interested in him romantically, and just to solidify it, Lil Nas X tweeted the next day lamenting about the love that got away.

I must admit, I'm fully invested in this faux romance. Will they ever cross paths again? Will they fall in love during conversations over pizza? I guess the world will never know. But what we do know is, Lil Nas X is just trying to make music he enjoys and love whoever he wants and that shouldn't be controversial.

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These nuns built a lovely little chapel. Right in the way of a pipeline. On purpose.

Over 300 people gathered in a cornfield chapel on Sunday, July 9.

Sister Janet McCann at the chapel's dedication. Photo from David Jones/Lancaster Against Pipelines, used with permission.

The chapel, a bare bones structure, rose out of a clear plot in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There are no walls; its boundaries are marked by tall rows of growing corn. Any breeze that blew over the rows must have been welcome — the temperatures had been hovering around the 80s pretty much all week.

This was the scene as the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, a Catholic order of nuns, dedicated their new open-air chapel.

But this open-air chapel isn't just for prayers. It's a protest.

It's built directly in the path of an incoming natural gas pipeline.

The Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline will be an underground extension of the Transco pipeline and will cut across 183 miles of Pennsylvania — including directly through the nun's cornfield.

Sister Martha Wachtel, ASC. Photo courtesy of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, used with permission.

A federal commission gave Williams Partners, the company building the pipeline, permission to use eminent domain to claim the land, pending a July 17 hearing.

In response, the nuns teamed up with a local grassroots group called Lancaster Against Pipelines to organize and construct the chapel in protest.

"They're very fine people," Sister Sara Dwyer says.

The result is that, if Williams Partners really wants the land, they're going to need to tear down the pews and arbor first.

The chapel. Photo courtesy of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, used with permission.

The sisters say their protest is a religious one and the pipeline violates one of their ethics, which names the Earth as a sanctuary to be revered.

"It's not just about this pipeline," says Dwyer. "It's about drawing awareness to what fossil fuel usage has done to the poor, to communities, and to the planet."

"We see this as a moral, religious, and spiritual stand," Dwyer says.

This isn't the first time eminent domain has been used for pipelines.

The permission has been used on the Bakken and Dakota Access pipeline before. It might seem a little weird — most of the time you think of eminent domain (if you think about it at all) as something public, like a road or a bridge. A privately owned pipeline using it feels weird.

And those who feel this way are not alone. Backlash has led to proposed laws and litigation in multiple states.

Proponents of the pipeline hold that, once completed, it’ll help fuel more than 7 million homes and it will create jobs.

It's not clear whether the nuns' efforts will have an effect, but you've got to hand it to them — it's an audacious move.

In building their new chapel, these nuns have made their message crystal clear: If the pipeline really does want this land, they're going to have to fight for it.

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People have been prank-calling Trump's anti-immigrant hotline in glorious ways.

Apparently, the first day of Donald Trump’s new immigrant crime hotline went amazingly — just not in the way the Trump administration had probably hoped.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

The Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement Office (VOICE), established to assist victims of crimes committed by "removable criminal aliens," was reportedly prank-called all day by protesters claiming to have been abused by E.T., Jabba the Hutt, and other notorious creatures from outer space.

The trend was first noticed by Robbie Gramer, a writer for Foreign Policy.  

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told BuzzFeed that the hotline was "tied up" throughout the day by the protesters.

Alexander McCoy, a Marine Corps veteran and progressive activist, claims to have kicked off the tongue-in-cheek protest with a tweet Wednesday afternoon.

"I swore an oath to defend my community and uphold the Constitution," McCoy says. "I see speaking out as a way of continuing to fulfill my oath and standing behind the immigrant community that is under attack."

McCoy, who explains that he finds the term "aliens" intentionally dehumanizing, called the hotline and — after waiting on hold for 20 minutes — was asked if he was calling to report a crime by an "illegal alien."

He told the operator that he'd been abducted and taken to a UFO.

"I heard them give a long sigh," he says. "And they closed out the conversation saying that they'd make a note of it."

Critics of VOICE allege that it unfairly demonizes immigrants — singling them out for suspicion based on their status.

The office was announced during Trump's Feb. 2017 address to Congress during a tribute to four guests whose family members were killed by undocumented immigrants.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

Two recent studies conducted by The Sentencing Project, a criminal justice reform organization, and the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that immigrants — whether documented or undocumented — commit crimes at lower rates than native-born residents.

An ICE official told Upworthy that the VOICE office is intended to provide information to crime victims and does not receive crime reports, and also that he considers the protest a "shameful" stunt at victims' expense.

After McCoy's tweet went mini-viral, other prank-tivists began calling in, adding their own spin.  

Michigan resident Lisa Polmanteer used her time on the phone with a VOICE representative to troll Melania Trump — claiming to have been "victimized" by an immigrant living off her tax dollars in New York City.

According to Polmanteer, the operator asked if she was talking about the first lady. When she said yes, he hung up.

Others on Twitter suggested an entirely different, punny approach.

While the prank was undoubtedly silly, its message was incredibly serious.

"I feel like the administration is going to use these stories to further demonize immigrants [and] refugees," Polmanteer says. "My grandparents were immigrants. I take it personally, I guess."

McCoy hopes the protest will move participants to support the efforts of immigrant rights groups, like United We Dream, Presente, Mijente, and the DRM Action Coalition, who have been, as he says, "fighting this fight much longer than I have."

He also hopes people will continue to take action against attempts to stigmatize those who come to the U.S. seeking a better life.

For now, that means fighting efforts like VOICE — even if it means being a little annoying.

Or especially if it means being a little annoying.

"I feel like the only thing I can do about it is be disruptive." Polmanteer says. [I'm] feeling pretty overwhelmed and powerless, you know? So I'm a jerk wherever I can be."

Photo by Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images.

This post was updated with comments from ICE.

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21 pieces of photographic evidence that prove the March for Science was awesome.

1. Thousands of scientists and the people who support them took to the streets around the world on April 22, 2017.

March for Science demonstrators in Boston. Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images.

2. The day (not-so) coincidentally happened to be Earth Day.

Demonstrators in Boston. Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images.

3. Varied were the messages on their signs and the chants rolling off their tongues. But one truth stayed consistent everywhere: They are not happy with President Trump.

Demonstrators rally outside Trump Tower in New York City. Photo by Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images.

4. The March for Science, officially held in Washington, D.C., expanded to over 600 satellite marches around the world.

March for Science demonstrators in Washington, D.C. Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images.

5. From Berlin to London ...

Demonstrators in London. Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images.

6. ... and Boston to New York City.

Demonstrators in New York City. Photo by Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images.

7. People rallied in favor of evidence and research — and against Trump's unabashed disregard for scientific facts.

Demonstrators in San Francisco. Photo by Matt Savener.

8. Consolidating all the issues into a single page would be quite a difficult task, honestly.

Demonstrators in New York City. Photo by Carly Gillis.

9. But through their signs and slogans, many marchers singled out the president's indifference to climate change ...

Demonstrators in London. Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images.

10. ... his alarming proposed budget cuts to science and research funding ...

Demonstrators in London. Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images.

11. ... and his administration's general fondness for, um, "alternative facts" as the major factors inspiring them to lace up their marching shoes.

Demonstrators in Washington, D.C. Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images.

12. Because, yes, sometimes even the president needs to be reminded that the truth isn't up for debate.

Demonstrators in Washington, D.C. Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images.

13. Nothing short of our survival is at stake, after all.

Demonstrators in Boston. Ryan McBride/AFP/Getty Images.

14. The march brought out an eclectic group of truth-tellers too, like those with an interest in what's happening beyond our planet.

Demonstrators in Washington, D.C. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

15. And those who care about what's happening down below.

Demonstrators in New York City. Photo by Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images.

16. People of all ages were seen fighting for science — some of them old, some of them young, and all of them fired up.

Demonstrators in Berlin. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

17. There were a few big-name scientists in the crowd as well.

Trailblazers Sally Ride, Mae Jamison, Ada Lovelace, Shirley Malcom, Jane Wright, and Rosalind Franklin also made (cardboard) appearances.

Demonstrators in Washington, D.C. Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images.

18. And Bill Nye, never without his bow tie, helped rally supporters in the nation's capital.

Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images.

19. Even four-legged friends trekked out in the cold — because ignoring science affects every living thing.

Demonstrators in Boston, Massachusetts. Ryan McBride/AFP/Getty Images.

20. The massive success of the March for Science makes it clear that now really isn't the best time to remain silent.

Demonstrators in London. Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images.

21. Because, no matter your political persuasion, there is no Planet B to call home.

Demonstrators in Paris. Photo by Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images

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