Yahoo Finance RHOSLC 's Jennie Nguyen Speaks Out After Being Fired for Past Racially Insensitive Posts
Chad Kirkland/Bravo Jennie Nguyen
Jennie Nguyen spoke at length on Instagram Live a day after Bravo fired her from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Her termination came after racially insensitive posts from her deactivated Facebook page resurfaced online.
During her Instagram Live on Wednesday, Nguyen, 44, was joined by her friend Michael as she addressed her past offensive posts.
"I just want you to understand my point of view and where I come from, and what's going on during that time. I mean it's an old post on my account, it's in 2020. I just want you to understand, during that time I had a team of people that were helping me. Whether they post it, I post it, it doesn't really matter at this point. For me, it's on my account, and I take full responsibility and accountability for what was posted," she said.
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"I know I hurt a lot of people. I know my viewpoint during that time in 2020 was emotional. And it brings back a lot of memories during that time when we went through such a tragic, terrible year. And I just want to let you know that I am taking full responsibility and accountability for the things that were posted on my account, whether it was me or somebody else. It's on my account and I'm big enough to understand that those posts are very sensitive and inappropriate, to the point where it is disgusting," Nguyen shared.
"But I want you to understand that my political stance, I still support that. I am very proud to be a Republican. I am proud to be able to say I have the freedom of speech to choose and to have an opinion. I respect your opinion, I respect your political stance. We are different. But we need to respect each other and we need to understand that we live in this country, where we have the freedom to speak our mind, as well as we have a freedom to choose," she said.
"I don't tolerate violence. But I do support my law enforcement. I know with every profession, there's good and there's bad. I don't support the bad, I don't support the brutality of Black people or with any race. But I do support my law enforcement. But that doesn't make me racist. To support my political stance, that does not make me a racist. And I want you to understand that. And whether I remember the posts in 2020, I don't remember whether it's on my account or not. We don't remember what we ate yesterday, let alone two years ago. But like, again, I take full responsibility," she continued.
Nguyen joined the Bravo hit in its second season, which premiered last September.
RELATED: RHOSLC's Meredith Marks Calls Out Jennie Nguyen's Past 'Racist' Posts: 'I Am Sickened'
In the controversial posts, Nguyen criticized the Black Lives Matter movement and the related protests that followed after the controversial death of George Floyd.
Elsewhere in her Instagram Live, Nguyen said, "We're all human, we make mistakes. If you did not make any mistake in your lifetime, then you're not speaking the truth. I made a mistake. And to say, this is the only mistake I made, no I make tons of mistakes in my lifetime. Am I going to continue to make a mistake? Of course. Am I going to learn from it? Absolutely. Am I going to learn and adapt and teach? Of course I am, but I'm still human, we're all human."
Ngyuen added, "We need to understand, to support each other. And at this moment I understand the pain that you're going through, I understand the suffering, I understand that the organization of Black Lives [Matter] meant for something."
"I'm taking full responsibility for it. What matters is that I hurt people, I hurt my fans, I hurt the people that are out there supporting me, and I feel really, really, really awful for that. And I never want to put anyone. From, you know, I understand that Black people have suffered a lot and went through a lot and dealt with a lot, more than any race on this planet," she said.
"Police brutality is a very, very big topic," Nguyen stated. "But again, you have policemen out there signing their life away every day, to make a commitment to protect the community. What about showing that appreciation. I did show that appreciation. I don't support bad ones. I don't support people that are out there burning buildings, because there are workers there. My friends gone through their business being destroyed, they didn't do anything. We are getting abuse for things that we didn't do and that's not fair."
Nguyen said, "But what I'm trying to say is like, that doesn't make me racist. That's making me compassionate for the people that are suffering. And I know a lot of people are suffering without being involved in the movement. Mentally, physically, we all are dealing with it. And I hope you understand that I will continue to change and learn and improve myself. From your point of view, from my friend's point of view, from my fans' point of view, I will take that to heart and learn and adapt."
Nguyen previously apologized for the situation. "I thought I was speaking out against violence, but I have since learned how offensive and hurtful my words were," she said in a statement.
"It's why I deactivated that account more than a year ago and why I continue to try to learn about perspectives different from my own," she continued. "I regret those posts and am sincerely sorry for the pain they caused."
But her posts sparked criticism from nearly all of her former RHOSLC castmates including Jen Shah, who chose to "stand up" on her family's behalf. Shah's husband, Sharrieff Shah, and sons, Omar and Sharrieff Jr., are Black.
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"I am deeply offended by the racially insensitive posts and comments," the 48-year-old reality star wrote on Instagram. "It was infuriating to see her like and repost comments that made a mockery of and showed complete apathy toward those killed marching to bring awareness to the deep-seeded social justice issues that plague our country."
After declaring that she was "equally disappointed by the disingenuous apology" from Nguyen, Shah added: "Needless to say, we have some real s— to talk about."
The entire RHOSLC cast no longer follows Nguyen on Instagram.
Housewives producer Andy Cohen later spoke about the controversy on SiriusXM's Radio Andy, saying the situation "will be addressed very soon."
"People were very upset about the lack of discussion on last night's episode relating to Jennie's disgusting and upsetting posts, and I've also seen all the tweets wanting to know what's being done about those posts," said Cohen, 53. "I just want to say, in case anyone doesn't realize it, that there are many serious discussions happening right now about everything — about everything."
Bravo officially announced their decision to part ways with Nguyen on Tuesday.
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Jennie Nguyen/instagram
"She will no longer be a cast member of 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,' " the network confirmed in a previous statement. "We recognize we failed to take appropriate action once her offensive social media posts were brought to our attention. Moving forward, we will work to improve our processes to ensure we make better informed and more thoughtful casting decisions."
Before her own controversy, Nguyen criticized castmate Mary Cosby for saying she admired her "slanted eyes." She even advised that Cosby "take some responsibility," especially given there "is a lot of Asian hate" since some have placed blame on the AAPI community for the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Cosby addressed the matter on Twitter, she claimed her comment was "coming from a place of a compliment."
Towards the end of her Instagram Live on Wednesday, Nguyen said, "I just want you to know this is not the last time you'll see Jennie Nguyen. This is the beginning. I will continue to be out there and I will continue to let the world know that, Hey, this is not the last time you're gonna see of me," adding, "Either I get the support, I really appreciate it. If I get your opinion, I will also appreciate it whether it's negative or positive."
