Catfish host Nev Schulman apologized on Twitter Thursday after an offensive tweet about Black Girls Rock! landed him in hot water.
The story started Tuesday evening, when the Black Girls Rock! award show was airing on BET and #blackgirlsrock was subsequently trending on Twitter. The show, hosted this year by Tracee Ellis Ross, highlights the achievements of women of color in everything from music to medicine.
The inciting tweet has been deleted, but in it Schulman wrote, “#BlackGirlsRock I totally agree. They also tend to #catfish a lot. Just sayin””
Screenshots of the tweet still exist:
https://twitter.com/melaninbarbie/status/717597148808806400
Backlash for the tweet was swift and severe, and black celebrities were vocal in their disappointment:
But instead of seeing that obvious correlation & understanding why #BlackGirlsRock is necessary, you made a joke? @NevSchulman
— Vanessa Veasley (@VanessaVeasley) April 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/tariqnasheed/status/717748314897133569
So after taking some time to reflect (and read DMs from thoughtful people like @melaninporn), the MTV host tweeted an apology early Thursday morning:
Thank u @melaninporn for taking the time to help me understand some of the issues POC deal w/. Sorry to all I upset. pic.twitter.com/ws9T1JraWf
— Nev Schulman (@NevSchulman) April 6, 2016
Thanks. This was an important lesson for me and hopefully can be one for a lot of other people too. https://t.co/yTah6yq397
— Nev Schulman (@NevSchulman) April 6, 2016
It may be too little too late, though. Fans on Twitter remain unimpressed by Schulman’s apology:
https://twitter.com/alixmcalpine/status/718190986325860353
https://twitter.com/httpshania/status/718182598619631617
H/T BET