Gina Rodriguez has issued a second apology for her use of the n-word on social media.
On Tuesday (Oct. 15), the actress recited lyrics to The Fugees’ 1996 single “Ready or Not” and posted it to her Instagram Story. Instead of using a portion of the song that didn’t have the n-word in it, Rodriguez mumbled the n-word before snickering.
After critics pointed out her use of the word, she hopped back on social media to issue an apology. “ I just wanted to reach out and apologize,” she said. “I am sorry. 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.”
Her second apology was more detailed as she somewhat took accountability for her actions. “The word I sang carries with it a legacy of hurt and pain that I cannot even imagine,” Rodriguez wrote. “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.”
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But this didn’t do much to smudge the pattern she has demonstrated towards conversations about blackness and identity. Critics returned to the many times in the past where the Jane The Virgin actress seemed to demean black issues. When Black Panther mania took over 2017, Rodriguez attempted to use the history-making moment to pivot to a demand for more Latinx actors in the Marvel and DC worlds.
“Marvel and DC are killing it in inclusion and women but where are the Latinos?! Asking for a friend…” Rodriguez said in a deleted tweet. Another moment where the actress took over a conversation about black women happened during an interview in September 2018. As Rodriguez and Smallfoot co-star Yara Shahidi spoke with entertainment journalist Blogxilla, he expressed how Shahidi was an inspiration to “so many Black women,” including his daughters. Rodgriguez chimed in saying, “So many women” which came off as an erasure of the topic of black women.
It all came to a head just a few months later when Rodriguez falsely claimed black actresses make more money than other women of color during Net-a-Reporter’s roundtable discussion.
“I get so petrified in this space talking about equal pay, especially when you look at the intersectional aspect of it,” Rodriguez said. “Where white women get paid more than black women, and 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.”
At the time, Modern Family’s Sophia Vergara (who is Colombian) was famously the highest-paid actress on television followed by Kery Washington. After a tearful apology on Sway in the Morning for her comments, she pointed out how the black community has always been “family” to her and pointed out how her father is considered “dark-skinned” in Puerto Rico.
Lmaooooo @ Gina Rodriguez's "dark skinned" dad. Help. https://t.co/aBWhiUAfoc
— monique, who is openly Black (@thejournalista) January 23, 2019
Hopefully, this incident will serve as a lesson for the actress. See more reactions from the incident below.
I’m convinced that Gina Rodriguez activates her anti-blackness in order to keep her name in peoples mouths. pic.twitter.com/AYcvKjh1LM
— Black Girls Book Club (@bg_bookclub) October 16, 2019
Gina Rodriguez apologies be like… pic.twitter.com/kcnHXdyvMW
— Kevín (@KevOnStage) October 16, 2019
nobody:#GinaRodriguez under her breath when she sees a black person after dark and subsequently crosses the street: pic.twitter.com/aTVqWRId0E
— ✨Afropunzel✨ (@afropunzelll) October 16, 2019
https://twitter.com/IAmJonnyApollo/status/1184292068912439296
https://twitter.com/Adunni_Achebe/status/1184338748366053376
https://twitter.com/SheopatraSmith/status/1184334998909980672
