Over the weekend, Doja Cat posted a note to her Instagram page in an attempt to clarify videos from her past that had resurfaced on social media, including clips of her using racial slurs. “I understand my influence and impact and I’m taking this all very seriously,” she wrote. “I love you all and I’m sorry for upsetting or hurting any of you. That’s not my character, and I’m determined to show that to everybody moving forward. Thank you.”
But that was really only the beginning. The videos, as outlets have pointed out, captured Doja Cat’s participation on Tinychat, an online messaging app; a widely circulated tweet characterized her fellow video chatters as “alt-right white supremacists.”
The same tweet thread also made note of a song Doja Cat made in 2015 called “Dindu Nuffin” and drew attention to its title, a term apparently used by the alt-right as a racist slur to refer to people of color who’ve been victims of police brutality and have asserted their innocence. These connections were also linked to past tweets of Doja Cat’s where she used homophobic slurs — allegations she apologized for in 2018.
Her Instagram note addressed each of these allegations. She mentioned having visited chat sites since childhood and acknowledged that she “shouldn’t have been on some of those chat room sites, but I personally have never been involved in any racist conversations. I’m sorry to everyone that I offended.”
As for “Dindu Nuffin,” she said, “It was in no way tied to anything outside of my own personal experience. It was written in response to people who often used that term to hurt me. I made an attempt to flip its meaning, but recognize that it was a bad decision to use the term in my music.”
This note traveled widely on social media, but Doja wasn’t done yet. Late Monday night (May 25), she hopped on Instagram Live for a 30-minute broadcast where she aimed to, as she said, “debunk everything.” The entire clip was captured and reposted by fans.
“My behavior isn’t something that always needs to be followed,” she said in the video, also noting that her apology note was “an edited piece” workshopped by herself and her team. “I’m not perfect. At the end of the day, I shouldn’t be doing dumb shit. But also I need to stand up for myself instead of making a video that’s diplomatically and politically correct.” She mentioned how she tried to record multiple apology videos (and even played clips of them) before opting for “being on Live, telling you guys my fucking truth, and being completely honest.”
That honesty included a frank exploration of perceived self-hate. “I love my skin color. I think I’m beautiful,” she said. “The times that maybe there was a photo that was lightened to a certain point — that shit just happens. I am not behind editing my photos.” Her video also addressed “Dindu Nuffin,” which she called “maybe the worst song in the entire world” and “lyrically lost.” She also apologized again for creating it and said it was “in no way” connected to police brutality.
The video goes on from there, delving into more topics on a bulleted list Doja Cat has in front of her. Watch the entire thing in the fan-captured recording above.
