Alia Shawkat has apologized for using the N-word during an interview from 2016.
The actress, known for her roles in Search Party and Arrested Development, took to Twitter on Monday to post a lengthy apology.
She said she was “deeply sorry” for a “careless moment” during the 2016 interview.
Shawkat’s apology came after she suffered a backlash due to a video clip of a 2016 interview that recently resurfaced on social media.
The clip showed her using the n-word while quoting from Drake’s remix of the rap track We Made It from Soulja Boy’s 2013 mixtape, The King.
The rap song’s chorus includes repetitive use of the n-word:
N***a we made it, aye/We made it/N***a we made it, aye/**n, we made it.
Shawkat posted apologies on Twitter and Instagram
Shawkat, 31, quoted lyrics from Drake’s rap song during an interview with the filmmaker and producer Lance Bangs at SXSW 2016. She was promoting the TBS comedy series Search Party in which played Dory Sief.
Part of her apology on Twitter reads:
“I am writing this to address a video that was posted of me quoting a song with the N-word in it as a part of an interview from 4 years ago. I am deeply sorry and I take full responsibility. It was a careless moment, one I’m ashamed and embarrassed by, but vow to continue to learn from…
I regret using a word that carries so much pain and history to black people, as it is never a word to be used by someone who is not black.”
She also shared the same apology on her Instagram.
Besides playing Dory in Search Party, Alia Shawkat is known for playing Maeby Funke in Arrested Development and Hannah Rayburn in State of Grace.
She voiced Roland in Big Mouth and appeared in Comedy Central’s Drunk History.
Shawkat’s apology comes amid protests following George Floyd’s death
Shawkat’s apology comes amid ongoing protests following the death of George Floyd at the heads of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for several minutes during an arrest.
The incident led to angry protests in Minneapolis and several other cities around the country. The protests focussed attention on the treatment of black people by the police, the media, and in everyday life, including at work.
As part of the backlash following the protests, HBO Max temporarily pulled Gone With the Winds from its library. The move came after allegations that the film engaged in the racist portrayal of black people.
A spokesperson for HBO Max said that they would return the movie with an explanation of its historical context.
Paramount also canceled the documentary series Cops, and A&E temporarily pulled Live PD.