Alia Shawkat apologises for saying N-word during 2016 interview

Actress Alia Shawkat, 31, has apologised after a 2016 video clip of her saying the N-word reappeared recently.

Alia, whose father is Arab, is believed to be the girlfriend of Brad Pitt, 56.

In an apology on Instagram, she said that felt “ashamed and embarrassed” for using a line that had a racial slur from Drake and Soulja Boy’s 2013 single We Made It. The actress said she should not have said the word as it is not to be used by someone who is not black. She had used the line in an interview at the South By Southwest Festival four years ago.

In the video, the context of which is not known, she responded to a query: “I mean, everyone was so excited when we all came back. Like we were all in the penthouse together and everyone was looking around like, ‘N***a we made it’. You know what I mean?”

The apology came in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States.

Alia said she took full responsibility, that it was reckless of her and that she hoped to learn from the experience. She also said that she regretted using a word that is attached to pain and history to black people.

Alia then talked about the lessons she had been going through recently. She said she had been learning a lot about what it means to be an ally and how the voices of black people must be amplified and heard.

She stressed how important it was to be hyper-vigilant in the spaces in which she existed.

Recently, Alia has been showing her support for the BLM movement. The movement was revived following the death of a black, George Floyd, at the hands of a police officer. /TISG