During a recent appearance on the “Tamron Hall Show,” Method Man opened up about prioritizing respect over his reputation as a sex symbol. The host, Tamron Hall asked him about a quote from his 2023 Men’s Health cover. “In the article, you said, ‘I’m not a sex symbol.’ You said sometimes you don’t want to be lusted over; you just want to be respected.” She also mentioned his shirtless moment at a recent Usher concert in front of thousands of fans, playfully asking, “How do you reconcile not wanting to be lusted over but keep opening your shirt?”

The Wu-Tang Clan member replied, “This is the thing, now that I got it, I’m gonna show it off, but it’s not for that,” he began. “Imma show it off while I still got it. But here’s the thing, right? I love the admiration. I love it. Does it get awkward at times? Absolutely. Sometimes, you just want to blend in with everybody else, and I’m that type of person.”

“You can never blend in,” Hall interrupted. Method Man continued, “Sometimes I do. Again, I can appreciate the admiration. Then there’s the only things where it’s like ‘Finest Man Alive.’ I mean, you can put as much gas on the fire as you want, but honestly, I believe all of us are beautiful and sexy in our own way, so let’s all be sexy together.” Watch the full interview below.

In the accompanying interview for his Men’s Health cover, Method Man firmly stated that he’s not a sex symbol. “That’s the whole f**king point, man. Put the words together. Sex and symbol. What’s the symbol? I’m not doing anything. So what’s the symbol?” he said. “I’m not going to lie, I love every freaking minute of it, but I don’t want to be that guy that, when the clock starts winding down, he’s still trying to be that sexy.”

The Long Island native continued, “I mean, Smokey Robinson is always going to be sexy to somebody. I’m not using him as an example — I’m just saying that with where Smokey is right now if Smokey was still at the same time he was back then, it would look ridiculous. And Smokey knew he was a sexy motherf**ker. You get to a certain age where you just stop caring, and I think that’s the sexiest thing in the world right there.”