Over the weekend, comedienne Jess Hilarious came under fire for xenophobic comments she made after several Sikh men were removed from a flight she was on.
“If I’m scared I’m scared. F**k y’all. F**k how y’all feel,” Jess said. “Y’all mad at me because I don’t side with any other black person, because I don’t side with every other race. F**k y’all. I feel how I feel. I felt threatened and that was it. F**k y’all, and I’m not flying there. We were evacuated, bitch. Why? Why? with no technical difficulties or nothing.”
The Rel actress’ bitter language didn’t go over well and Twitter quickly reacted. Tuesday morning (March 19) Jess took to social media to apologize.
“So naturally in my previous post, I was defensive, but that’s what happens when you don’t take the time to really know what’s transpiring,” Jess stated. “In understanding the error of my actions, I have to first acknowledge the rooted issues, which means racially profiling a group of individuals based on their appearance and on top of that—publicizing it on a platform where others can be hurt by it and others were hurt from it.”
The comic’s comments were especially hurtful as they were made 48 hours after New Zealand’s deadliest Muslim attack in the country’s history, which left 51 men, women and children dead. The youngest was three-year-old Mucaas Ibrahim.
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After several members of the Sikh community contacted Jess and spoke to her on why her comments were hurtful and potentially dangerous, she then vowed to donate money to the victim’s families.
“I’m not sure if these particular individuals that were on the plane are aware of my actions by now, but either way, I would love to apologize personally to them first for my insensitive and ignorant behavior,” Jess said. “Yet, I would still like to apologize to all of you who were aware and offended by my actions.”
She ended her apology by reiterating her intention is to only bring people joy. “I refuse to teach, spread or be an advocate for hatred—I just want to make people laugh,” she said.