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Internet has an unerasable memory, and Nessa Barrett is among the most recent victims of its archival reach. In a recent TikTok video, the TikToker issued another apology about her past actions, pleading with people to stop sending her death threats for her “ignorant” TikTok video from 2020.
“I made a terrible mistake when I was 17 and wish I could take it back more than anything. However, I can’t,” Barrett posted in her recent video.
Nessa Barrett came under fire from all directions online in 2020 when she uploaded a video of her and a friend dancing to a man reciting the Quran, the sacred book of Islam. Called out for her offensive content, Barrett deleted the video and issued subsequent apologies. However, it looks like the public is still holding her past against her.
A look back into Nessa Barrett’s dance video controversy
Back in April 2020, Barrett, then 17, uploaded the controversial video to her more than 6 million followers, and immediately drew flak for it. Barrett, realizing what she had done, immediately took down the video and in a TikTok live stream explained her side of the story and apologized.
She explained that she and her friend were just brainstorming ideas for advance videos when they came across the video of the man reciting verses from the Quran. Unaware of what the words were, the duo decided to put up a dance video to the sound.
“My step siblings, like my stepmom is from Egypt and all that stuff, so I know that it could have been taken offensively. I just want to apologize for anyone who took it that way and was offended. I think — I'm sorry to anyone that practices that religion,” Barrett apologized in a live video.
But people were not satisfied with her apology. #nessacancelled and other hateful comments continued to be a common sight in her videos’ comments section. One comment on her video read, “My respect for you went,” followed by a downward graph.
Many called Nessa Barrett’s apology disingenuous. Post that Barrett issued another apology in a TikTok video, clarifying that the video did not come from a hateful place and that she regretted the hurt she had caused to anyone. Barrett added that it was “really hard to handle” the hate she was receiving.
From her recent TikTok video, which addresses the same controversy, it seems as if the ghosts of Nessa Barrett’s past are still following her. Talking about the growth that she has made in the past two years, Barrett posted in the video that she has “educated herself” and is more mature now than the ignorant young girl she was two years back.
In what seemed like a dejected tone, Barrett revealed that she was troubled by the threats and hate that she still receives. She reiterated that she regretted her actions and that the video was not ill-intended. She ended her message by accepting that her apologies haven’t been enough and that she’s “trying.”
Barrett’s video which comes two years after the initial video that sparked outrage, has become the face of the unforgiving world online. It remains to be seen if this video has larger implications on Nessa Barrett’s TikTok journey.
