Normani is speaking out about Camila Cabello’s past racist memes and slurs!
And you guys, this all went down during their days in Fifth Harmony.
How’s it going?
It’s Emile Ennis Jr. here with Clevver News and Normani is one of the cover star’s of
this month’s Rolling Stone alongside Megan Thee Stallion and SZA.
And in the issue, Normani finally opens up about Camila Cabello’s past racist remarks
in old Tumblr posts and tweets, which she apologized for at the end of last year.
In case you forgot, screenshots of Camila’s old Tumblr account where she posted offensive
and racist memes and comments resurfaced on the internet.
The posts show the screenshots dating all the way back to 2012, around the time when
Fifth Harmony formed as a group.
The memes and comments Camila shared contained harsh language including multiple uses of
the n-word and racial stereotyping towards the Black community.
Camila and her team did some major damage control, taking down all of her past Tumblr
posts and issued an apology.
In the statement, Camila wrote, “When I was younger, I used language that I’m deeply
ashamed of and will regret forever.
I was uneducated and ignorant and once I became aware of the history and the weight and the
true meaning behind the horrible and hurtful language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever
used it.”
And up until now, Normani hadn’t spoken out about any of this.
But she finally revealed how she felt about it in Rolling Stone!
Before we get to Normani’s response, how did Camila’s past actions affect you, and
how do you think Normani felt?
Comment below!
Normani’s response actually hurt my heart you guys!
She explained that she is now finally revealing how she felt because she had some early career
trauma when it came to racism surrounding Fifth Harmony.
She said that as the only black member, she often felt like “the other one in the room.”
Normani was targeted by racist bullies online after a subset of Harmonizers believed Normani
had slighted Cabello by calling her “quirky.”
At the time internet trolls posted Photoshopped hurtful and racist images of her and others
even went as far as sending her death threats.
And obviously, Normani is still scarred from all of those experiences.
And so Normani admitted that she’s "struggled" talking about these sorts of issues before.
So she decided it would be best to write out her thoughts in a statement to Rolling Stone.
Normani explained why she made this decision and said quote, “I want to be very clear
about what I’m going to say on this uncomfortable subject and figured it would be best to write
out my thoughts to avoid being misconstrued, as I have been in the past.
I struggled with talking about this because I didn’t want it to be a part of my narrative,
but I am a black woman, who is a part of an entire generation that has a similar story.”
Normani went on to say that quote, “I face senseless attacks daily, as does the rest
of my community.
This represents a day in the life for us.
I have been tolerating discrimination far before I could even comprehend what exactly
was happening.
Direct and subliminal hatred has been geared towards me for many years solely because of
the color of my skin.”
And then Normani got into specifically how Camila’s racists remarks impacted her.
She said quote, “It would be dishonest if I said that this particular scenario didn’t
hurt me.
It was devastating that this came from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven and a
sisterhood, because I knew that if the tables were turned I would defend each of them in
a single heartbeat.
It took days for her to acknowledge what I was dealing with online and then years for
her to take responsibility for the offensive tweets that recently resurfaced.
Whether or not it was her intention, this made me feel like I was second to the relationship
that she had with her fans.”
But even after the hurt, Normani hopes that Camila has grown from the situation and learned
from her mistakes.
Normani said quote, “I don’t want to say that this situation leaves me hopeless because
I believe that everyone deserves the opportunity for personal growth.
I really hope that an important lesson was learned in this.
I hope there is genuine understanding about why this was absolutely unacceptable.
I have spoken what is in my heart and pray this is transparent enough that I never have
to speak on it again.”
And then Normani delivered a powerful message to end her statement.
She said quote, “To my brown men and women, we are like no other.
Our power lies within our culture.
We are descendants of an endless line of strong and resilient kings and queens.
We have been and will continue to win in all that we do simply because of who we are.
We deserve to be celebrated, I deserve to be celebrated and I’m just getting started.”
And while it took Normani a little bit of time to speak out, she waited and did it so
thoughtfully.
And fans agree, they are taking to Twitter to support Normani.
One person said quote, “i’m so proud of her for speaking her mind woah”
Another said quote, “STAN NORMANI THE QUEEN”
And another wrote quote, “I love that she spoke out about this”
But obviously not everyone agrees with Normani’s choice to speak out about this, some trolls
on the internet are calling out Normani for clout chasing or promoting her own work
Though clearly she just felt ready to speak her mind and everyone has the right to do
that.
So now it’s your time to let your thoughts about all of this in the comments below!
Let me know what you thought of Normani’s statement regarding Camila’s past hurtful
remarks.
And while you’re here we also have a fun video over on Clevver Style, an episode where
me and my besties Drew and Jackie recreate black cultural icons to celebrate Black History
Month.
You definitely don’t want to miss this one!
As always, be sure to hit that subscribe button to keep coming back for more news updates.
And we have some more exciting news for you!
Since we are talking about some of your favorite musicians, we wanted to be the first to tell
you that Clevver Music is coming back in March 2020 so stay tuned for that!
Thank you for watching I’m Emile Ennis Jr. and I’ll see ya next time!