Ryan Guzman Apologizes After 9-1-1 Co-Stars Slam His N-Word Defense: ‘That’s Not Our Word’

Great news, everyone: Ryan Guzman no longer thinks it’s okay to say the N-word!

As we reported, the 9-1-1 star got some serious backlash over the weekend from fans and co-stars alike when he defended his and his fiancée’s use of racial slurs, telling fans in an Instagram Live that he and his non-white friends “call each other slurs all the time.”

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Well, it appears the outrage inspired Guzman to re-think his perspective — and he wants his critics to know what great strides he’s made in such a quick time. In a selfie-style recording (below) posted on Monday, the Latino actor stated:

“I do not condone the use of the N-word by any non-Black person. That includes all Latinos. That’s not our word. I came from an angry place. I couldn’t think straight, and I misspoke.”

The 32-year-old went on to apologize to those who were offended by his remarks, saying:

“I’m not here to bring anybody down. I apologize to those that I have offended and misrepresented myself by using the wrong term … I will continue to grow, and continue to help out the community.”

Guzman gave a subtle shoutout to the Black Lives Matter movement in the caption of his post, writing: 

“Try,fail,learn, and grow. My purpose is to continue to help/support my black brothers and sisters in this time of need.”

Ch-ch-check out his full apology (below).

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

My purpose is to continue to help/support my black brothers and sisters in this time of need. All love.

A post shared by Ryan Guzman (@ryanaguzman) on

Sounds like the backlash — and the ongoing protests stemming from George Floyd’s death — knocked some sense into him, because his initial response was… frustrating, to say the least.

It all started with an Instagram Live post on Sunday where Guzman defended his fiancée Chrysti Ane’s response to old tweets in which she used slurs, telling fans:

“I have plenty of friends — black, white, Asian, Indian, whatever they are, Korean — and we make fun of each other’s races all the time. We call each other slurs all the time. We don’t get butt-hurt at all because we know the actual person, we know who each other are. We know that we’re not trying to bring each other down. So, what are y’all trying to get at? You’re trying to prove that somebody that’s not racist is racist? Nah. You don’t have that power. There is no racist energy coming from this household at all.”

Soon, Guzman’s co-star Aisha Hinds (above, insert) addressed his comments on Twitter, suggesting that “learned behaviors” like Guzman’s (read: joke-y racism) are still harmful to the black community.  

She wrote:

How I FEEL daily is a perpetual state of GRIEF. There’s sadly no version of this indefensible discourse that doesn’t exacerbate that grief. There’s legions of learned behaviors that need to be named and neutured so we don’t continue to give life to them. May we know & DO BETTER.”

Preach!

Do U think Guzman actually learned something from this, Perezcious readers?

[Image via FayesVision/WENN]

The post Ryan Guzman Apologizes After <i>9-1-1</i> Co-Stars Slam His N-Word Defense: ‘That’s Not Our Word’ appeared first on Perez Hilton.