Gina Rodriguez Apologizes for Using the N-Word in Deleted Instagram Story

Gina Rodriguez has found herself in hot water yet again. Today, the Jane the Virgin star posted an Instagram story in which she says the N-word while singing aloud to “Ready or Not” by The Fugees. Within just a few hours, a recording of Rodriguez’s since-deleted post went viral, with many Twitter users calling her out for using the racist epithet. “She FINALLY said it!” wrote one user. “We got you on camera, HD!! You are done!!!”

In the brief video, which has since been deleted, Rodriguez sings along to The Fugees’ “Ready or Not” as she gets her hair and makeup done. “Voo doo, I could do what you do,” she sings. “Believe me n**** give me heebie-geebies.” Rodriguez then laughs at something off-camera, and the video ends.

The video is only eight seconds long, but that’s more than enough time to ignite a controversy. Almost immediately, Rodriguez was called out on Twitter, with many fans delighting in the fact that the star is being put on blast. “I see Gina Rodriguez racist ass has returned to tap dance on my Black ass nerves,” wrote one user. “What Gina Rodriguez said was nothing short of disgusting,” wrote another. “Gina Rodriguez and Scarlett Johansson competing to see who can ruin their career faster,” added another Twitter user.

Just a few minutes after the Twitter memes really took off, Rodriguez apologized in a new Instagram story. “I just wanted to reach out and apologize. I am sorry,” she said. “I am sorry if i offended anyone by singing along to The Fugees, to a song that I love and I grew up on. I love Lauryn Hill. I really am sorry if I offended you.”

This isn’t the first time that Rodriguez has found herself at the center of a controversy. In late 2018, the actress said that Black women are paid more than Latinx women during a Net-a-Porter roundtable, a comment that didn’t sit well with Black viewers. She was also slammed for remarks made shortly after Marvel announced Black Panther. “Marvel and DC are killing it in inclusion and women but where are the Latinos?! Asking for a friend…” she tweeted in July 2017. Some felt that Rodriguez’s tweet detracted from Black Panther‘s achievements and suggested an “anti-Black” bias.