• #LilNasXIsOverParty began trending on Twitter early Sunday thanks to stan accounts tweeting screenshots of Islamophobic tweets.
• The tweets belonged to an account called @nasmaraj, which Lil Nas X supposedly ran before launching his mainstream music career with “Old Town Road.”
• Lil Nas X has refused to comment on speculation that he ran @nasmaraj before the account’s suspension, but stan accounts are digging up their own “proof” to stifle the songwriter’s success.
• Read more stories like this on INSIDER.

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The hashtag #LilNasXIsOverParty started trending on Twitter early Sunday morning, thanks to the efforts of stan accounts accusing the “Old Town Road” songwriter of Islamophobic tweets on what is allegedly his old social media account. The accusations were met with backlash, creating a storm of controversy over whether the tweets were really even from Lil Nas X or not.

Before hitting no. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 charts for his country-rap crossover with Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X may have ran the once popular, now suspended Twitter account @nasmaraj. If so, old tweets from @nasmaraj containing Islamophobic sentiments such as “Stop pretending there is no correlation between violence & islam,” could be attributed to the artist.

That connection was made Sunday by stan accounts, which are social media profiles created by fans of different artists and celebrities to tout their idols. Most of the ire toward #LilNasXIsOverParty has come from k-pop stans, but several prominent tweets are from Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande stans, as well.

With Lil Nas X having just dropped his EP “7” and “Old Town Road” continuing to hold at no. 1, it’s no surprise that stans for other artists and genres may be sick of seeing him in the spotlight. Whether their “receipts” from @nasmaraj will actually sway support for their artist is questionable, since a majority of the tweets using the hashtag are criticising the attacks.

The songwriter himself has been active on Twitter since the hashtag started trending, and tweeted “me at the lil nas x is over party” with a clip of his single “Panini” and an animation.

Lil Nas X has never claimed that he ran @nasmaraj, and the connection between him and the account has never gone mainstream, but the claim that the two are connected isn’t baseless.

An investigation from New York Magazine’s Intelligencer blog lays out compelling evidence that @nasmaraj and Lil Nas X are one in the same, and the songwriter’s team has denied it to publications like Billboard. Stan accounts have contributed evidence, too – although, almost anything can be faked or taken out of crucial context on the internet.

The Intelligencer reported that Lil Nas X attained a six-digit follower count before getting suspended for tweetdecking, or spamming Twitter with coordinated attempts to go viral based on faked or stolen content.

Evidence that Lil Nas X ran @nasmaraj includes Reddit user u/NasMaraj, an account that identified itself as both @nasmaraj on Twitter and Lil Nas X multiple times before and after “Old Town Road” debuted.

Additionally, after @nasmaraj was suspended, a new account called @nasmarai appeared and identified itself as the successor to @nasmaraj. The email that appeared in @nasmarai’s Twitter bio later appeared in Lil Nas X’s official Twitter bio, and his Lil Nas X’s Instagram bio used to identify him as @nasmarai on Twitter.

@nasmaraj was also a Nicki Minaj stan, which has irritated current Minaj stan accounts on Twitter, who believe Lil Nas X has purposefully collaborated with Cardi B, the rapper’s primary competition, to dispel rumours of his past.

If Lil Nas X was @nasmaraj, it would also make sense for the songwriter to disassociate himself with the controversial account given his recent fame.

For now, it seems to have worked – regardless of the trending hashtag and compiled evidence, no real-life mob outside of Twitter has successfully knocked Lil Nas X from his Billboard pedestal or viral fame.

INSIDER reached out to Lil Nas X for comment but has yet to hear back.

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