'Bachelorette' Hannah Brown under fire for 'deplorable' Instagram comment: 'Beyond impermissible'
Former “Bachelorette” star Hannah Brown was called out on social media after she said the N-word during a Saturday night Instagram live.
The Alabama native was recording herself singing DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR” when she used the offensive term in a video you can see here. The reality star was quickly made aware of the slur by fans and issued a half-hearted apology in the moment.
“I did? I’m so sorry,” Brown said, smiling and laughing. “I was singing — I’m so sorry.”
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The 25-year-old and her friend then began to joke that it was her brother who was actually behind the remark.
“I don’t think… Maybe it was Patrick,” she said. “Um, anyway…”
Brown’s faux-apology was not well-received on social media, and clips of the offending Instagram live quickly went viral on Reddit and Twitter, where users skewered her for her racial insensitivity.
“This is deplorable and while it isn’t my apology, the fact that you would giggle about it as you and your friend deny you saying it and that you’d say ‘no that’s Patrick’… beyond impermissible,” one Twitter user wrote. “You need to ACTUALLY address this.”
“Another white celebrity, Hannah Brown, says the N-word. When are these people ever going to learn?” said another viewer.
“Truly disgusted by the recent instagram live video of Hannah Brown saying the n-word,” wrote a third. “Like the majority of bachelor nation I’ve supported Hannah in the past but for her to say the word without ANY hesitation and not give a real apology is beyond disappointing.”
On Sunday, Brown took to her Instagram story to issue a more formal apology following the public outcry.
“I owe you all a major apology,” she wrote. “There is no excuse and I will not justify what I said. I have read your messages and see the hurt I have caused. I own it all. I am terribly sorry and know that whether in public or private, this language is unacceptable. I promise to do better.”
Credit: Instagram/@hannahbrown
Multiple members of #BachelorNation issued responses to the incident — most notably Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, who said she reached out to Brown personally to explain the implications of her actions.
“I honestly … didn’t want to have to do this,” Lindsay said in an 8-minute video posted to Instagram TV. “I never wanted to speak on this, I never wanted to say anything, I’m honestly tired of feeling like I have to speak because other people won’t.”
“I’m personally offended by what was done,” she continued. “Last night, when everything popped off, I didn’t see it but I woke up to a bunch of messages today basically telling me what happened. So, I tried to do something a little different. I thought instead of me dragging [Hannah Brown], which is what people wanted me to do, and I’m not necessarily in the business of doing that, I thought, let me just pull out a verse from the Bible.”
“The Bible says in Matthew 18:15 that when you feel offended, you should go to that person and let them know that they offended you,” she added. “So I did that, I thought, you know what, let me just speak to the person directly and let them know how I’m feeling.”
“It’s not an opportunity to call someone out, it’s not necessarily an opportunity to drag them, it’s an opportunity to maybe educate them, to speak to them how you were personally upset about it, so that’s exactly what I did — never with the intention to come do an Instagram Live, never with the intention of calling someone out,” Lindsay noted. “I thought, ‘Let me challenge this person to use their platform,’ because last night it was used in a different way so let me challenge them to use it in a better way.”
However, Lindsay revealed that the guidance she provided Brown fell on deaf ears — which left her feeling “personally hurt and offended.”
“I gave someone the opportunity to [use her platform for the better] and it wasn’t done,” she said. “Now, I understand that an apology was made but when I know what could have been done, when I know what I challenged someone to do … they refused to do it, or they did not do it.”
“You know, it’s easy to make a statement,” she continued. “It’s easy to hide behind words but when you’re bold enough to say the N-word on camera, on your platform … let me just say, when you’re bold enough to say the word on your platform, then you need to be bold enough to use your face on camera and apologize the same way you said the word.”
Brown has yet to publicly address Lindsay’s comments.
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