Tana Mongeau apologises after racism accusations from ex-friend Kahlen Barry

23 June 2020, 14:30

Tana Mongeau and Charli D’Amelio collaborate on TikTok

By Jazmin Duribe

Tana also addressed old racist tweets directed at her friends.

Tana Mongeau has apologised for her past racist comments after her former friend Kahlen Barry opened up about his experiences with the YouTuber and fans dug up her old racist tweets.

Kahlen was once a part of Tana's collaborative YouTube channel "Trash", which involved multiple creators. However, Kahlen and Tana are no longer friends and he's now an independent creator.

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On June 16, Kahlen revealed that Tana had made a number of racist comments in his presence in a YouTube video titled, "finally revealing the truth about Tana Mongeau", which he released after calling Tana out on Twitter.

finally revealing the truth about Tana Mongeau

In his Twitter post, he wrote: "In the past, we have had issues when it comes to the topic of race, particularly about your usage of the N word and my feelings regarding it. You made me feel, as a black person, invalidated, and I never felt as a friend I could tell you about the things that hurt me without it being spun back onto me.

"You have since apologised publicly on your platform and claim that you are a better person. I want to believe that and that is why I am calling on you to demonstrate that during this time."

Kahlen went into further detail in his YouTube video, detailing a number of instances where he had been gaslighted by both Tana and her manager Jordan. Kahlen said he was framed as the "angry Black person" after pulling her up on her behaviour during the problematic iDubbz's "say cheese" moment and they even spread rumours he had been in trouble with the police around the industry.

Soon, fans dragged up her old racist tweets, some directed at her best friend Imari. One reading: "Text me or go back to the plantation," while another called him a "cotton picker".

Tana has now publicly addressed her behaviour in a lengthy Twitter statement and explained why it had taken her so long to respond. She tweeted: "first, I’d like to apologize to Kahlen directly for my silence, there are no excuses, I should have talked and listened to you. instead, I’ve been trying to find the words to address this and apologize in a way that that won’t further hurt anyone, and educate myself on how to handle this properly. i am so sorry that came with any silence. but i am taking responsibility for all of my actions in the past, i know i am an adult.

"there are no excuses for my behavior, and i know that. i have done my BEST to educate myself, and grow as a person from who i was in the past. i want to be the best version of myself who continues to grow. but i know that just educating myself isn’t enough to truly grow, and i need to take accountability for my past actions, and address them in order to truly grow. i am sorry for staying silent, i will continue to be addressing and apologizing for everything with full transparency. i want to apologize directly to @KahlenBarry for anything i ever did to make him feel that i was being micro-aggressive or racist. that is so far from who i am and will spend a lifetime trying to show you that.

"I want to apologize once again for all of my past tweets as they are unacceptable AND DISGUSTING and i know how truly far i am from that person now. to think ive ever had a sense of humor that relied on shock value like that fucking disgusts me.

"I am so sorry to anyone who was angered by my silence- i should’ve instantly said this. it breaks my heart to see people say i’m only being a performative activist- i truly stand by my morals now and will continue using my platform and doing everything i can to fight for what is right and equality. but i completely understand how my silence was not the right thing to do if that’s how i want to be perceived. i will be better."

She continued: "thank you to my fans for holding me accountable and expecting better. anything i can do to be better, grow, and be a help to society with my platform and nothing but that- please let me know. i am not that Tana- and i refuse to do anything but evolve and educate myself. i am so sorry it took me this long to even say this [sic]."

Tana's manager Jordan also tried to defend her, posting on Twitter that Tana didn't have a "glorious" childhood and "lacked awareness" but she would be apologising for her mistakes.

Kahlen hasn't accepted the apology, in fact, he made a YouTube video in response to Tana's statement. He said: "I'm going to be honest I think her apology was very manipulative, very deflective and also gaslighting and invalidating.

"She did not validate my feelings at all. She made it seem like, once again, I'm making this shit up in my head."