Stop hating on Iggy Azalea. We should be proud of her success

We should embrace Iggy Azalea’s “vagina” comment, writes Jonathon Moran. After spending time with the Aussie rapper, he sees her for who she is, not who the hating population thinks she is.

Iggy Azalea performs with Rita Ora during the Pre-Grammy Gala and Salute To Industry Icons. (Pic by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Iggy Azalea is a woman that walks into a room and expects people to hate her.

Comments like “I don’t miss Australia” haven’t helped. Neither have rumours of her pulling diva antics on the set of The X Factor.

But this supposed brash and problematic pop star is nothing like the Iggy Azalea I’ve come to know.

When you strip back the bravado, Iggy is fun, down to earth, easy going and actually pretty funny.

Publicly though, she comes across as uptight at best. Some might say she’s stuck up.

Truth is, she’s extremely shy.

It’s time for Australia to stop hating on Iggy and embrace the northern NSW girl like we do our other successful exports.

Iggy has copped so much flack, she’s understandably guarded.

We are far from best friends but I’ve interviewed her several times — for the Daily Telegraph and the Confidential on Nova radio show I co-host.

She’s likely to get in first with a prickly face and bold reply because it appears she’s almost always expecting backlash.

Australian singer Iggy Azalea at the GQ Man of the Year awards in Sydney. (Pic: Adam Taylor/News Corp Australia)

Covering the GQ Men Of The Year Awards last night, I happened to be sitting next to her.

The Iggy I saw was vulnerable and down-to-earth.

I couldn’t help but wish she just let her guard down and smiled more so everyone could see this “real” side to her.

Before walking into the Ivy ballroom of about 200 people — many of them stars and business leaders, from Mad Men’s Jon Hamm to bar baron Justin Hemmes and Paralympian Dylan Alcott — Azalea was overheard saying she didn’t want to make her entrance until everyone was seated.

One journalist was disgusted at witnessing the exchange. But that’s when the penny dropped for me. She didn’t want a fuss. She’s not good with small talk.

Prior to accepting her award as the 2016 Woman of the Year, she nervously asked her friend sitting next to her to hold her hand and go up on stage with her. The friend, wisely, said no.

Iggy was genuinely terrified. Her hands were shaking. I was shocked.

How could the Fancy hit maker, who was nominated for four Grammy Awards for her debut album The New Classic and holds her own alongside Ariana Grande, Rita Ora and Selena Gomez, be so scared in public?

She said this in her acceptance speech: “I have won a lot of awards over the last few years but this one means the absolute most to me because I can finally say that I have an award-winning vagina.”

Yet this morning the nasty backlash had begun, with online comments labelling her a bogan, weird and vulgar.

Iggy was named GQ Woman of the Year 2016. (Pic: GQ Australia)

I say bravo. She was trying to be lighthearted and not take herself too seriously.

At the end of the night, Iggy and the rest of the award winners and presenters were asked to return to the stage for a photo and to toast the night.

Again, Iggy looked genuinely terrified. She agreed on the proviso actor Ben Mingay, who was sat at our table, went up with her.

“I’ll only go if Ben comes,” she said, before Mingay held her hand and escorted her to the stage.

I first interviewed Iggy for Bonds last year. Before getting her on the phone, I was nervous, not about the interview but for fear of how she might react.

She doesn’t do many interviews and has a no bullshit reputation.

At the time, I was relieved at how calm she was (and surprised she still spoke with an Aussie accent after years of living in the US).

There were no restrictions on questions (this happens much more often than you’d think and with much lesser stars). She was chatty and more than polite and not in a suck-up way.

I’d argue no Australian music artist has been as successful as her in the mainstream scene in the past few decades. Countless have tried. They all want a piece of the Billboard charts and the potentially lucrative business that it is to be a success in America.

Iggy has it. Some have had one-off hits but none have kept themselves in the spotlight.

She’s up there with Olivia Newton John in terms of Aussies cracking it in the US. Only Iggy is doing it now in 2016 when the industry is much harder than it was decades ago.

Iggy Azalea, with Adam Lambert and Guy Sebastian, is back in her homeland as a judge on X Factor. (Pic: Channel 7)

Now stars have nowhere to hide. Everything is on show with social media. They’re exposed.

It’s a blessing and a curse and can, if not handled properly and if a foot is put wrong, ruin your career with a single Tweet.

Iggy is very hands on with social media. She uses Twitter to clarify things. But it also burns her because she’s raw and honest and appears to have no filter. I respect that in a world where celebrities hide behind minders.

Iggy is the real deal superstar. And I believe it is time we acknowledged that.

This isn’t to blow smoke up Iggy’s arse. I just feel she needs someone to publicly come out in her corner because she is an easy target for haters. And it would be a shame if she left Australia next week when The X Factor wraps regretting her time here.

Iggy, I for one, am proud you’re an Aussie superstar.