Ethel Cain apologizes for resurfaced 'racist statements,' alleges 'smear campaign'

Singer Ethel Cain posted an Instagram Story Wednesday apologizing for resurfaced racist social media posts she made at age 19.

The singer, whose real name is Hayden Anhedönia, had been confronted by Reddit users who unearthed and reposted these controversial posts from Tumblr and other platforms.

Among them were screenshots from a Q&A platform called Curious Cat, where Cain admits to using the n-word and states “build that wall" in response to a post mocking Latinx people. There were also screenshots of Cain wearing a t-shirt that said “legalize incest,” along with instances of the singer making fat-shaming and rape jokes. The performer also said that people who use “they” pronouns are “attention seekers.”

These screenshots of her old posts were shared to an X account called @herweirdsilas, which seems to be dedicated to “exposing” the 27-year-old singer, just as she is gearing up to release her sophomore album, Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You, which comes out in August. Cain's debut album, Preacher's Daughter, was released in 2022 to critical acclaim, and she has since broken Billboard records as a transgender singer.

In her July 9 statement, Cain said she made these remarks during a point in her life that she looks back on “shamefully.”

“I was 19 and I was entirely aware of what I was saying and that was why I said it,” the statement reads. “All I can say is that I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart, to anyone who read it then and to anyone reading it now. Any way you feel about me moving forward is valid.”

"To everyone partaking in this expecting me to address my racist statements in the past, you are completely valid. This statement cannot be everything, but I hope it is a start," she added.

Cain also provided some context for her frame of mind at the time. "I spent my later high-school years being extremely progressive and 'SJW' as they called it at the time, as a way to reject the indoctrination of my environment and rebel against the prejudice, hatred, and ignorance of the culture I grew up in," she wrote. She added that she "fell into a subculture online that prioritized garnering attention at all costs."

The 27-year-old went to say that she feels the resurfacing of these posts are part of a malicious attack.

“All of these things resurfacing are not the actions of a well-meaning individual concerned by something they discovered easily and casually on the internet,” she wrote. “These are screenshots obtained through extensive digging, hacking, and cooperative effort amongst a group of individuals who do not care who else is hurt by witnessing this media as long as I am ultimately hurt the worst in the end.”

Cain went on to address each allegation, among them that she was promoting "child pornography" from artwork she made at age 19, which she says she created as a response to sexual assault.

"At the time of that drawing, I had just been raped by a man twice my age weeks before. The way I processed this was the opposite way I thought rape victims were supposed to behave, as I leaned into sadomasochism and became fixated on the event and thought that somehow sexualizing it in a way I could control or desire would make it more bearable, as though I wanted it," she wrote.

The "Crush" singer ends the statement saying, “I will not allow this smear campaign to silence me in the same way I have not allowed any of their previous attempts to silence me. Again, in this day and age, just as I must be diligent with my voice and my actions, you share the same responsibility.”

Read the full response below.