Haley Joel Osment says Kendrick Lamar is simply “too precise” as a lyricist for his controversial Joel Osteen line in the Drake-dissing “Euphoria” not to have been entirely intentional.
Interviewed by Associated Press on the red carpet of Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut Flash twicethe 36-year-old actor was asked about the lyrics in question, in which Kendrick mentions the megachurch pastor by name and refers to two of Osment’s most-watched films, AI And The sixth sense. While some questioned whether this was simply a case of confusion, others have since argued that Kendrick’s decision to use Osment and Osteen interchangeably was an intentional move that was in keeping with the broader mood of the second half of the song’s second verse.
“I was in Ireland when this all happened, and I got about a hundred text messages in the middle of the night,” said Osment, whose line “I see dead people” is from M. Night Shyamalan’s The sixth sense was later quoted in Kendrick’s “Not Like Us”: “I was like, what’s going on?”
When asked if he believed the lyrics were intentional, Osment confirmed that was his opinion, adding that he had read “certain analyses” of the dispute that supported that view.
“I think he’s being too specific,” he said. “I don’t know for sure and I don’t assume he knows my exact name, but from what I’ve heard people talk about it and certain analysis I’ve read about it, I think my name and the other guy’s name are intentionally mixed up. Because Kendrick is too specific to just make a mistake like that, I think.”
Shyamalan’s The sixth senseled by psychologist and patient duo Bruce Willis and Osment, turned 25 this month. The groundbreaking film received multiple Oscar nominations and firmly established everyone involved in the pop culture vocabulary for years to come. Also released this month is Shyamalan’s latest film, the thriller starring Josh Hartnett Catchcome to the cinemas.
For Osment, Flash twice is not the only film on his 2024 release schedule. In March, he appeared in the comedy Drugstore June with Esther Povitsky and Bobby Lee. And Drake recently gifted his fans, not to mention the world at large, “100 gigs for your headtop.”
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