Social media influencer Alix Earle has addressed recent allegations surrounding offensive comments she made on Ask.fm years ago.
In an Instagram story posted on Monday, Earle admitted to using a racial slur on the Q&A platform in 2014 and issued a public apology. She explained, “Screenshots from my old Ask.fm account surfaced recently, showing me using a slur in the summer of 2014. I take full responsibility and want to make it clear that I was 13 years old at the time and did not grasp the deeply offensive nature of that word. This does not excuse my use of the word in any context or at any age. It is not reflective of my current values or the way I speak.”
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Earle expressed regret for any harm caused by her words and stressed that assumptions about her being prejudiced are false. “I am truly sorry that my past comments have hurt people and led others to believe I have any prejudice in my heart. That is far from the truth,” she said.
The offensive remarks, which first appeared on the “Alix Earle Snark” Reddit page in 2023, recently resurfaced on TikTok and other platforms. Following their reappearance, the subreddit linked to the “Do We Know Them?” podcast, hosted by Jessi Smiles and Lily Marston, received communication from Earle’s legal team. According to Smiles, the lawyer claimed that the content violated a trademark.
Smiles and Marston clarified that they are not affiliated with the subreddit and were surprised by the email from the alleged rights agent, WEB SHERIFF. “We cannot confirm the legitimacy or existence of any trademarks or copyrights but can confirm that we received an email,” they said.
The email, signed by John E. Henehan LL.B., claimed to represent Earle’s intellectual property rights and detailed 11 alleged infringements. The hosts expressed their concern and noted they had no prior knowledge of the post before receiving the email.
