Gina Rodriguez is apologizing for using the n-word in one of her Instagram Stories.
On Tuesday, the Jane the Virgin actress' name began trending on Twitter after people saw that she said the n-word while rapping along to the song "Ready or Not" by The Fugees and Lauryn Hill. After three hours, she deleted the video, but it was too late.
Across social media, people began to express outrage over the offensive term, which then prompted Gina to release a statement. "Hey, what's up everybody? I just wanted to reach out and apologize. I am sorry," she explains on her Story. "I am sorry if I offended anyone. My singing along to the Fugees, to a song I love that I grew up on, I love Lauryn Hill. And, um, I really am sorry if I offended you."
Hours later, she returned to Instagram with another apology. "In song or in real life, the words that I spoke, should not have been spoken," she wrote in a lengthy post. "I grew up loving the Fugees and Lauryn Hill. I thoughtlessly sang along to the lyrics of a favorite song, and even worse, I posted it. The word I sang, carried with it a legacy of hurt and pain that I cannot even imagine."
"Whatever consequences I face for my actions today, none will be more hurtful than the personal remorse I feel," her statement continued. "Watching my own video playing back at me, has shaken me to my core. It is humiliating that this has to be a public lesson but it is indeed a much deserved lesson. I feel so deeply protective and responsible to the community of color but I have let this community down. I have some serious learning and growing to do and I am so deeply sorry for the pain I have caused."
While her statement satisfied some, other people pointed out that Gina has apologized before but continues to make potentially offensive remarks.
In January 2019, the star was accused of being "anti-black", largely due to her various comments about how Latinx women are more discriminated against than black women, to which she issued a tearful apology live on a radio show. Through tears, the 35-year-old explained that she can't be anti-black because her father has dark skin. "So to get anti-black is saying that I'm anti-family. My father is dark-skinned, he's Afro-Latino … If anything, the black community is my community. As Latinos, we have black Latinos. That is what we are. I am not, so I think that when I speak about Latino advocacy people believe I only mean people of my skin color," she reasoned.
She added, "We don't need to fight each other and if I caused that notion, please forgive me because that is not my intent at all."
And days after making headlines for her comments, the star questioned whether she truly offended anyone or if it was social media that perpetuated this idea. "I've never said anything controversial about anyone in particular—period. I am not against anyone. I create opportunities for everyone. So I think we often—like, we're living in a culture and in a climate where this is where we're getting our factual information. But they're not facts. They're opinions. So I can't live my life based off of social media opinion," she insisted.
But, as she said in the interview, she's "still learning."
(This story was originally published Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 1:14 p.m. PST)