Apparently No Remorse
A blogger for USA Today’s Sports network was exposed this week for making astonishingly offensive racist and homophobic statements on social media. After more than a day of staying silent, Lindsey Ok issued a non-apology, claiming her remarks were a decade old and do not reflect the person she is today.
“Those tweets from 10 years ago that were taken out of context do not reflect my personality, my beliefs, or the way I think and carry myself,” she said in a screenshot posted to Twitter (below). There is no “context” in which they could be considered acceptable.
“I am truly sorry to anyone that may have been offended by those tweets,” Ok added, which is meaningless.
She also suggested that her critics are at fault for not having “taken the time to get to know” her. “I can confidently tell you that I don’t have a single racist, homophobic or bad bone in my body,” she insists.
Ok, continuing to show no remorse, added, “I refuse to be labeled as something I’m not and have never been.”
One conservative commentator who was among those Ok had acted inappropriately to offered surprisingly kind words, and Ok in turn responded negatively:
One reporter challenged Ok’s “out of context” claim, and she responded saying she would tell him privately:
Some of the tweets, which were first reported on by Black Sports Online, and others later by Raw Story, were from 2011 and 2012 – which is not “10 years ago,” as Ok claimed. They use slurs including “niggas” and “faggot,” among others, and several target Asian people. Many were quickly deleted once the report was published.
NCRM found a tweet from 2015 in which ok refers to NFL Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady as a “lesbian.” That has not been deleted as of this report’s press time.
It’s unclear if Ok faced any consequences from USA Today, although her Twitter bio has changed and no longer lists links to her work there.