Camila Cabello wants your forgiveness after Internet sleuths uncovered racist posts on her old Tumblr account.
Cabello said she is “deeply embarrassed” and “ashamed” after the racially-insensitive memes she posted seven years ago recently resurfaced online.
The Cuban-born singer faced criticism this week for a series of offensive posts she shared on her Tumblr page back in 2012, when she was a teenager.
One meme she re-posted shows a drawing of a crying Black child looking at a “closed” sign. The drawing asks the viewer to guess what the drawing is about. The correct answer is “KFC”.
Some of the posts featured the N-word and Asian slurs. She reposted offensive memes that she probably thought were funny. Camila obviously never assumed she would one day be an international pop star.
On Wednesday, Cabello issued a lengthy apology online, expressing her remorse at the hurtful language she used when she was an “ignorant” youth.
“When I was younger I used language that I’m deeply ashamed of and will regret forever,” the singer began.
“I was uneducated and ignorant and once I became aware of the history and the weight and the true meaning behind this horrible and hurtful language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever used it.”
Cabello went on to insist she is a changed woman: “I’m 22 now,” she continued. “I’m an adult and I’ve grown and learned and am conscious and aware of the history and the pain it carries in a way I wasn’t before.
“These mistakes don’t represent the person I am or (the) person I’ve ever been. I only stand and have ever stood for love and inclusivity and my heart has never, even then, had an ounce of hate or divisiveness.”
She concluded, “I can’t say enough how deeply sorry and ashamed I feel, and I apologize again from the bottom of my heart.”
Cabello’s public apology comes almost four months after her boyfriend, fellow pop star Shawn Mendes, also apologized for similar racially-insensitive messages posted to his Twitter account back in 2013.
In his statement addressing the racist messages, Mendes blamed his friends using his phone to tweet out comments.
