Actress Gina Rodriguez is facing backlash over a social media post in which she used the n-word. A video posted on her Instagram shows Rodriguez getting her hair done as The Fugees song “Ready or Not” plays in the background. Rodriguez raps “I can do what you do … believe me. (N-word) give me heebie-jeebies.” She later deleted the video but not before people shared it widely on social media.
After immediate criticism, she posted another video, saying: “I just wanted to reach out and apologize. I am sorry,” she said. “I am sorry if I offended anyone by singing along to The Fugees, to a song I love, that I grew up on. I love Lauryn Hill. And I really am sorry if I offended you.” However more backlash followed from people who said the apology did not sound sincere. Hours later, she posted a followup apology early Wednesday on Instagram. “In song and in real life, the words that I spoke should not have been spoken,” she said in the lengthy message. “I thoughtlessly sang along to the lyrics of a favorite song and even worse, I posted it. The word I sang carries with it a legacy of hurt and pain that I cannot even imagine. … I have some serious learning and growing up to do and I’m so deeply sorry for the pain I have caused.”
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