Normani broke her silence about former Fifth Harmony bandmate Camila Cabello’s racist comments from the past.
Normani sent her statement through email to Rolling Stone. She told its reporter during her interview: “I just want to make sure that anything I say is exactly what I mean."
A Twitter thread containing screenshots of Cabello using the n-word and posting racist gifs on her personal Tumblr went viral. She posted them when she was around 14 years of age. Cabello apologized on December 18. She said. "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 this horrible and hurtful language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever used it....As much as I wish I could, I can’t go back in time and change things I said in the past. But once you know better, you do better, and that’s all I can do."
Normani’s email read. “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 expressed disappointment over Cabello’s late acknowledgement and apology. She said. “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.”
She added. “ It took days for her [Camila] 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.”
Concluding her statement, Normani said. “I really hope that an important lesson was learned in this.”
She said. “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. 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.”
