There has been an online fury this week ever since actress Gina Rodriguez posted a video of her saying the N-word while rapping along to The Fugees hit song, “Ready Or Not.” Most people instantly condemned her offensive outburst, but she recently got some surprising support from Boyz II Men member Shawn Stockman.
Gina Rodriguez has issued two apologies since the Instagram video of her singing the N-word stormed social media—and collectively most people have slammed her usage of the word and her initial apology. However, she found some unexpected support from Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men, who gave her a pass on saying the word because she’s Latina.
Speaking with TMZ in an impromptu interview, Shawn offered his take on the situation, saying:
“Here’s my thing, she was singing a song and if you’re going to sing a song, make sure that you censor yourself. We can all censor ourselves as we’re singing right? But as far as I’m concerned, she’s Latina, right? Latina [is] Black. A lot of people don’t acknowledge that but she’s Black. She’s from Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Mexicans believe it or not, we all here [rubs his skin]; we all history. She’s Latino. If you go to Puerto Rico right now there are people my shade right now. Puerto Ricans, Latinos, you’re all Black.”
As expected, the response to his defense of Gina is not really that positive. Meanwhile, she’s been quiet since issuing her second apology earlier this week.
Roommates, what are your thoughts on this?
