*“Catfish” host Nev Schulman caught the ire of Black Twitter Tuesday after sharing an insensitive message during BET’s “Black Girls Rock” telecast.
In the since deleted tweet, Schulman, 31, wrote, “#BlackGirlsRock I totally agree. They also tend to #catfish a lot. Just sayin.”
The backlash was swift.
One woman responded by outlining the impact media and societal attitudes have on black women, writing: “Maybe we tend to catfish a lot because media and society portrays black women as ugly and unwanted, causing self hate.”
Maybe we tend to catfish a lot bc media and society portrays black women as ugly and unwanted, causing self hate. pic.twitter.com/KrOq6LUBmR
— cici (@melaninporn) April 6, 2016
How are you going to sit here and just say “black girls rock….but yall catfish people”. Don’t praise then slander. That’s not how it works — anime princess (@melaninbarbie) April 6, 2016
.@NevSchulman thanks for helping drag us even further down in the eyes of society. C’mon dude. #ThinkBeforeYouSpeak https://t.co/a9wa0qtrVL
— Maya World Peace (@MayaMylesA) April 7, 2016
Amid the backlash, Schulman took to Twitter to apologize, crediting the user who reached out to him directly to address the issue. “Thank you #melaninporn for taking the time to help me understand the issues POC [people of color] deal w/,” he noted. “You’re right to be upset & don’t have to accept my apology, but I am deeply sorry to those whom I offended and learned a valuable lesson,” Schulman continued.
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
Schulman has run afoul of the Twitterverse before. After condemning physical violence against women on Twitter in September 2014, the reality star confirmed a withstanding rumor that he had been expelled for punching a female in college.
“In college, I was in a situation where I was forced to defend myself, after being suddenly attacked. Charges were brought, but my case was almost immediately dismissed as this was clearly a case of self-defense. My post was meant to raise awareness and support for everyone affected by the awful abuses of domestic violence,” he said.
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