Alix Earle confronts racism allegations as leaked Ask.fm posts expose shocking offensive slurs
Social media influencer Alix Earle has addressed recent allegations regarding her trademarking offensive comments from her past on Askfm.
(alix_earle on Instagram Stories)
In a statement posted to her Instagram story on Monday, Earle acknowledged that she used a racial slur on the question-and-answer platform in 2014 and apologized for it. She explained, “A couple of weeks ago, screenshots surfaced from my old ask.fm account showing me using a slur in the summer of 2014. I am taking accountability and want to make it clear that I was 13 years old and did not understand the deeply offensive meaning behind that word. That is no excuse for using that word in any context or at any age. That is absolutely not the way I speak or what I stand for.”
Earle further apologized for any hurt her words may have caused and emphasized that any assumptions about her being prejudiced are incorrect. “I am deeply sorry that my words have hurt many and have led people to believe that I have any prejudice in my heart. I promise you that could not be further from the truth,” she said.
The offensive comments, which surfaced on the “Alix Earle Snark” Reddit page in 2023, recently reappeared on TikTok and other forums. After their resurgence on a subreddit linked to the “Do We Know Them?” podcast hosted by Jessi Smiles and Lily Marston, Earle’s legal team reportedly contacted the hosts. According to Smiles, the lawyer claimed that the content violated a trademark.
Smiles and Marston clarified that they have no involvement with the subreddit and were surprised by the email from the supposed rights agent, WEB SHERIFF. “While we cannot speak to the legitimacy or existence of any trademarks or copyrights, we can confirm that we received an email,” they stated.
“This entity claimed to act as the rights agent for Alix Earle, and had written the email to notify us of 11 different alleged infringements and violations. The email was signed by John E. Henehan LL.B., who asserted under penalty of perjury that he is ‘either the intellectual property rights owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owners of the exclusive rights that are allegedly infringed.”
The hosts expressed their concerns and noted that they were unaware of the post until the email arrived.