Celebrity model and TV presenter Shashi Naidoo has taken to social media to issue the latest in a series of apologies for comments about Israel that landed her in hot water on social media.
In a statement that should be lauded for its honesty, if nothing else, Naidoo said: “I stupidly copied and pasted the response verbatim in a feeble attempt to appear smart on social media without reading it comprehensibly (I know), thereby entering an issue of world importance I had no real fundamental understanding of – my biggest mistake.”
“I reached out to a friend to help articulate a response and offer a secondary point of view, as to be honest, I didn’t know much about the situation (although it sure must have looked otherwise),” she continued, adding: “Words will never be enough to express how truly sorry I am. It will be in my actions going forward that I do better.”
The 37-year old, TV presenter, actress, television presenter, model, MC, entrepreneur and fashion blogger was blasted for being “extremely uninformed” after expressing her views on Israel and Palestine on Instagram, in defence of DJ Black Coffee’s decision to tour in Israel.
In an earlier statement, Naidoo said: “I am extremely sorry for the statements I have made, unfortunately my comments came from very little knowledge of the political standing as I am not a political figure or even follow politics.”
As a result of her initial Instagram comment, Naidoo was dropped from her role as ambassador of Glampalm Africa and for modelling for jewellery designer Adila Dhorat.
The social media outrage is believed to have been started by social activist Yusuf Abramjee, formerly of 702 and Lead SA.
Abramjee took to Twitter to take Naidoo to task over her tweets, and later to voice his disapproval with her apology as well, which he described as “completely wrong”.
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