Comedian Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge apologized on Saturday after having published a video the day before in which he appeared to refer to the expression “to work like a N…”, while claiming at the same time that he had “ never” seen the N-word he was filming.
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“On the heads of my mother, my father, my children, I have never seen these letters. I’m really sorry, I would never have made a gag like that,” he assured this morning in a short video published on his Instagram account.
The day before, Mr. Lemay-Thivierge had filmed himself hugging a birch on which the word “nigga” could be read.
“Sometimes life is also about working, working hard. There is an expression that sums it up very well sometimes: I have a big job. A big job,” he could be heard saying.
Many Internet users were outraged and instead understood that the actor was referring to the racist expression “working like an N…”.
“I wanted to make a bad play on words with work and birch,” he justified in his apology video.
“I don’t believe it at all!”
On Saturday morning, the controversial video had disappeared from Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge’s account, but still continued to circulate widely since other Internet users put it back online.
“I withdrew, I hope it stops now because I never intended to do that. You just have to know me at least to know that I’m not like that. Please stop this immediately. We erase. Thank you,” he said.
Several personalities from the black community of Quebec, however, did not believe Mr. Lemay-Thivierge’s explanations, and added a layer on Saturday to denounce his remarks.
“Too little too late, excuses. Anyway, I don’t believe it. PANTOUT! This man has clearly demonstrated that he is completely insensitive to such a crucial subject even in 2024,” wrote host Varda Étienne in an ephemeral publication on Instagram.