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Drag Race UK's Charity Kase apologises for using "disgusting and offensive" racist language

24 August 2021, 12:13

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By Jazmin Duribe

"I was 16 and uneducated at the time, unaware of cultural misappropriation and the impact of my use of language."

RuPaul's Drag Race UK's Charity Kase has apologised for using racist language in a number of tweets shared when she was 16 years old.

Charity will soon be competing in the upcoming third series of Drag Race UK. Soon after the Drag Race UK cast was announced, a number of tweets from Charity's account were unearthed. In the tweets, which date back to 2013 and 2014, Charity uses the N-word. Others also pulled up examples of cultural appropriation including photos of her in braids and locs.

Understandably, people were incredibly offended by the tweets and on Monday (Aug 23), Charity Kase apologised in a statement posted on Twitter. "Today some tweets surfaced from eight years ago which consist of me using disgusting and offensive language in a casual and colloquial way," she explained.

Charity Kase apologises for using "disgusting and offensive" racist language. Picture: BBC, @charitykase via Instagram

"I was 16 and uneducated at the time, unaware of cultural misappropriation and the impact of my use of language. I totally accept that this doesn’t excuse my behaviour. I want you to know how deeply sorry I am. I am not that same young boy today. I take full responsibility for these unacceptable tweets, and I hope you can understand that they do not represent me now or what I stand for today. Seeing them again has left me ashamed of myself."

She added: "I want to apologise unequivocally to my fans, who are disappointed and offended by me, and in particular to anyone whom I may have caused any form of trauma. Please forgive me. I have changed and and grown and am committed to growing further to using the platform and privilege I have to amplify the voices of people of colour."

Season 1 Drag Race UK queen Crystal seemingly defended Charity on Twitter, however, she did not name her specifically. She tweeted: "People should not be judged for things they said on the internet when they were a child." Sum Ting Wong, who also competed in season 1, then added: "I think a lot of people were angsty teenagers trying to make the void notice us."