Normani has finally opened up about the impact of former Fifth Harmony bandmate Camila Cabello's racist posts controversy.
Last year, the Havana hitmaker came under fire for publishing a string of prejudiced comments on Twitter and an alleged former Tumblr account several years ago, that included racial epithets like the N-word, and now Normani has spoken out about the backlash for the first time.
"I struggled with talking about this because I didn't want it to be a part of my narrative, but I am a black woman, who is a part of an entire generation that has a similar story," she wrote in a statement to Rolling Stone. "Direct and subliminal hatred has been geared towards me for many years solely because of the color of my skin."
Normani admitted Camila's words were particularly cutting because of their personal relationship, noting she wished her bandmate would have stood up for her when she was hit with racist attacks from trolls online.
"It would be dishonest if I said that this particular scenario didn't hurt me. It was devastating that this came from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven and a sisterhood, because I knew that if the tables were turned I would defend each of them in a single heartbeat," the Love Lies hitmaker added. "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."
Normani concluded her statement by stating she isn't sure whether or not Camila really understands the impact of her racist words: "I really hope that an important lesson was learned in this. I hope there is genuine understanding about why this was absolutely unacceptable."
Camila has previously apologised for the old racist posts, insisting she was completely ignorant at the time she published them online as a teen.
