From what I gather, this week, Radar Online exclusively published a clip of Nicole Curtis working on the set of Rehab Addict. In the clip, Curtis said the n-word. When Radar published it, the reaction from HGTV was immediate: they quickly canceled the premiere of Rehab Addict and completely wiped any trace of Nicole Curtis and her show from their website and promotion. As they should – this was 100% what they needed to do and a moment of decisive corporate leadership. HGTV had a red line and Curtis crossed it. In the wake of the cancelation, Nicole issued an apology which was first published by TMZ:

Curtis tells TMZ … “I want to be clear: the word in question is wrong and not part of my vocabulary and never has been, and I apologize to everyone.” She tells us she was unaware of HGTV’s decision to pull the plug on her show on the same day it was set to return to air after a hiatus.

Despite the surprising split, she tells us, “I’m grateful for the 15-year journey we’ve shared. It’s been a meaningful chapter, but my focus isn’t on my career. My focus, at this moment is rightfully on my relationships, and my community — the people who truly know my character and where my heart is.”

HGTV tells us it was “recently made aware of an offensive racial comment made during the filming of Rehab Addict. Not only is language like this hurtful and disappointing to our viewers, partners, and employees — it does not align with the values of HGTV.”

[From TMZ]

Everything probably should have been left there – Curtis reeling from being fired and apologizing, and HGTV laying down the law that what Curtis did was unacceptable. Unfortunately for everyone, Curtis decided to make another statement. This is… not the way to do any of this. From Nicole’s Instagram:

This isn’t a post I ever thought I’d be writing and I’ve drafted this more times that I can count and nothing seems to be enough.

There is anger, there is hate, there is pain. I’m here to take it. I haven’t been hiding, ignoring, waiting for this to pass. I’ve just been playing this all over and over again and watching the video and having this all out together to say the right thing, do the right thing after doing the wrongest of wrongs.

I am sorry. I am filled with remorse and regret, just as much as I was one second after that word was said 4 years ago in 2022. I show this, I say this and I realize you are getting a limited view as what has been circulating is a clip of MY footage that was stolen then manipulated, edited and sold to s tabloid to coincide with my return to television only to create this chaos of hate, anger, disappointment.

I make no excuse for this. I am not s victim. Nothing I say or do will take that moment 4 years ago away. I know it was wrong. This will never happen again.

I want to be clear that about this ….I’m not addressing this because I was “caught”. Im here because I am not okay with the fact that I said that. I am and have been submerged in the African American community my entire adult life. I’m a mom of two children, I chose to live and work in the inner cities of many major cities, but most famously Minneapolis and Detroit. Yes, I hear that word on s daily basis, people say it all around me, I listen to it in music, I’m not secluded on the suburbs. I am the white, small blonde in the neighborhood who knows that’s a word that represents evil, pain, torture, trauma when used by someone like me. And yet, it came from me…..

You ask -how did that just easily come out. I don’t have an answer for that. It did and it shocked me as shown. Now, you ask -what we’re you even saying? I throw together words, this is documented on 15 years of tv, interviews, posts of these random words. The most famous “son of s beehive digger” which took the place of SOB when I became a mommy and couid not swear on TV. I’m recent years, I’ve added fart digger, fart knocker. It’s documented.

I have disappointed so many and that includes my children, who I had to tell. My youngest said ‘you don’t say that word’ and I had to say [I] did,” she wrote.

I made a mistake that I realized right away and went into panic…. Not terrified this would ruin my career, no, terrified I put that terrible word into the universe. That was all my footage, my cameras, my house — it was not for HGTV, not for a show, no one would have ever seen the footage — I just didn’t want it there because it was a moment of deep regret and shame. There was no fear of network, etc. I didn’t want to ever hear me say that again — it’s that simple.”

HGTV was not aware because it was shot on my own personal time, done and equipment. No one was aware except the people in that room/No one had that footage drives except myself and my ex bf.

[From Nicole’s IG and Us Weekly]

She put “cont” at the bottom of this and kept talking in the comments, which Us Weekly was able to archive. Like… she’s claiming that she did say the n-word and yet she’s also claiming that the video was manipulated? Girl, stop. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but at least Morgan Wallen had the decency to eat sh-t for weeks/months and he never threw this much bullsh-t at the problem when he said the n-word on camera.

Photos courtesy of Nicole’s Instagram.