Normani says it took Camila Cabello years to acknowledge racist attacks
Normani is breaking her silence on how she really feels about Camila Cabello's past racist tweets, and how her former Fifth Harmony groupmate failed to defend her against racist attacks from fans online back in 2016.
In a written statement to Rolling Stone, Normani said she's been the target of discrimination daily but to have Cabello and Cabello's fans involved was particularly hurtful.
The singer, 23, added that if "the tables were turned, I would defend each of them in a single heartbeat."
"It was devastating that this came from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven and a sisterhood," she wrote. "It took days for her to acknowledge what I was dealing with online and then years for her to take responsibility for the offensive tweets that recently resurfaced. Whether or not it was her intention, this made me feel like I was second to the relationship that she had with her fans."
Last December, Cabello, 22, issued an apology for the old social media posts, which featured racial slurs and memes.
"I can't say enough how deeply sorry and ashamed I feel, and I apologize again from the bottom of my heart," she stated at the time.
Normani, whose full name is Normani Kordei Hamilton, concluded in her statement that "everyone deserves the opportunity for personal growth" and she hopes "an important lesson was learned in this."
"To my brown men and women, we are like no other," she wrote. "Our power lies within our culture. We are descendants of an endless line of strong and resilient kings and queens. We have been and will continue to win in all that we do simply because of who we are. We deserve to be celebrated, I deserve to be celebrated and I'm just getting started."
