Ryan Guzman is apologizing for his ”ignorance.”
On Wednesday, the 9-1-1 star addressed his comments condoning his fiancé Chrysti Ane‘s usage of racial slurs with an apologetic statement on Twitter.
“I know my thoughtless words and actions have hurt people and I apologize,” he wrote. “I am truly sorry, hold myself accountable and take full responsibility for my defensiveness and ignorance. I support the Black Community with my whole heart and I am educating myself and listening with an open heart and mind. I promise to use this experience to learn and grow and make real change. All love, Ryan Guzman.”
Earlier this month, Ane faced backlash after a series of tweets from 2011 resurfaced, in which she used the N-word. Taking to social media, she issued an apology and explained that she “didn’t fully comprehend the weight of the word” or “the history, the struggles, the oppression” that it carries, vowing to “use my voice for good” moving forward.
Later, Guzman came to her defense during an Instagram Live. “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 butthurt 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,” he said, according to TV Line, adding, “There is no racist energy coming from this household at all.”
The Pretty Little Liars alum’s apology comes one day after posting a video on Instagram addressing what had happened. “Try,fail,learn, and grow,” he captioned the post. “My purpose is to continue to help/support my black brothers and sisters in this time of need. All love.”
In the video, Guzman said that after taking the time to reflect, he knew he needed to apologize to those he had offended and promised to be a better ally.
“I do not condone the use of the N-word by any non-black person. That includes all Latinos. That’s not our word,” he told fans. “I’m not here to take away what the black community has gone through or take away something from them. I’m here to help them in any way. Through support—through anything. So, that being said, I apologize to those that I offended and misrepresented myself by using the wrong term. I stand by my ‘try, fail, learn, grow’ state of mind and I will continue to grow—continue to help out the community.”
After taking his initial stance, several of Guzman’s 9-1-1 co-stars condemned his comments. Oliver Stark tweeted, “I can tell you that my opinion is there is absolutely no excuse for the use of the n word. It belongs to the Black community only and I absolutely don’t agree with it being used by anyone else under any circumstances.”
Rockmond Dunbar also chimed in, writing, “As a black man this should go without saying but just to make sure people in the back understand when I say this with my whole chest: I don’t condone the s–t. I don’t like the s–t. And I’ve never been one to allow the word to be used around me by any non-black person.” He added, “And any alleged ‘black people’ that are co-signing their non-black friends to refer to them in that way need their entire asses checked. Too much history, too much pain. Past and present.”
Calling Guzman’s behavior “indefensible,” Aisha Hinds tweeted, “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.”
“E! stands in solidarity with the black community against systemic racism and oppression experienced every day in America,” the network said in a statement on May 31. “We owe it to our black staff, talent, production partners and viewers to demand change and accountability. To be silent is to be complicit. #BlackLivesMatter.”