Gina Rodriguez apologises for saying the n-word during Instagram video
Actor Gina Rodriguez has apologised for posting a video of herself using the N-word on social media.
The star of Netflix show Jane The Virgin filmed herself singing along to a Lauryn Hill rap from “Ready Or Not” by the Fugees.
“Voodoo I could do what you do, easy, believe me, fronting n****** give me hee-bee-gee-bees”, she rapped as she sat having her hair and make up done, before posting the clip to Instagram.
After receiving widespread criticism, the 35-year-old actor swiftly deleted the clip and later apologised in another video.
“Hey, what’s up everybody. I just wanted to reach out and apologise,” she filmed herself saying. “I am sorry. I am sorry if I offended anyone by singing along to the Fugees, to a song that I love, that I grew up on. I love Lauryn Hill. And I really am sorry if I offended you.”
The apology did little to diminish outrage on social media.
Twitter users were quick to point to a previous controversy of Rodriguez’s where she faced criticism for her comments about the film Black Panther.
At the height of its popularity, she tweeted: “Marvel and DC are killing it in inclusion and women but where are the Latinos?! Asking for a friend...”
At the time she was accused of being “anti-black” for her comments, about the movie which would go on to become one of the highest grossing of all time.
At a 2018 panel she also suggested black women were paid more than Latina women, despite Modern Family star Sofia Vergara -- who is from Colombia -- being the highest paid female TV actor in the world that year.
She said: “I get so petrified in this space talking about equal pay, especially when you look at the intersectional aspect of it, right? Where white women get paid more than black women, black women get paid more than Asian women, Asian women get paid more than Latina women, and it’s like a very scary space to step into.”
