Shut down. Bachelor Nation alum Ashley Iaconetti responded to fans who said she “canceled” Hannah Brown on her podcast after the Bachelorette used the N-word on Instagram Live.
“Cancellation solves nothing. Conversation solves everything,” the 32-year-old wrote on Instagram while quoting Bachelorette contestant Mike Johnson’s lengthy response to his ex using the racial slur. Some fans slammed the Bachelor in Paradise alum claiming she “pulled the cancellation” card and “piled on hate” toward Hannah, 25, on her “Almost Famous” podcast with Ben Higgins.
“I did not condone cancellation,” Ashley wrote in one response. She added, “Piled on hate? We literally read her quotes, aired Rachel [Lindsay]’s explanation of the word and I said she knows not to say that word.”
The starlet reacted to more comments after someone thought she had been “praying for this moment.” Others claimed she took her stance on Hannah’s situation based on her pal Nick Viall’s reaction. The former Bachelor called the Alabama native’s “initial response” to the controversy “disappointing.” He then said her written apology was “terrible” and “really insincere” on his “The Viall Files” podcast. “It comes across as, again, ignorant to what she’s speaking on,” Nick dished.
However, Ashley refused to be lumped in with anyone. “Just because two people are friends doesn’t mean that we share the same thoughts,” the starlet acknowledged. “The fact that I’m being tied to Nick’s comments without my name being brought up at all on his podcast is absolutely ridiculous!”
Hannah used the racial slur on May 17 while singing the lyrics to DaBaby’s “Rockstar” as she recalled the moves to a TikTok dance. “I did? I’m so sorry … I don’t think … Maybe it was Patrick. Um, anyway,” she said while passing the blame to her brother after fans immediately began calling her out.
She denied saying the N-word again later in her livestream and pressed that she’d “never use that word.” She added, “Look, people are going to want to think whatever they want to think of me, get mad at me, whatever. And even if I did accidentally say it, I’m very sorry, I was singing a song and not even thinking.”
The following day, the former beauty queen released a written apology. “There is no excuse and I will not justify what I said. I have read your messages and seen the hurt I have caused. I own it all,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “I am terribly sorry and know that whether in public or private, this language is unacceptable. I promise to do better.”