#‘9-1-1’ star Ryan Guzman apologizes for N-word controversy #EntertainmentNews

“9-1-1” star Ryan Guzman has walked back his seeming support for the use of the N-word.

Guzman, 32, who plays firefighter Eddie Diaz on the outlandish Fox procedural, found himself under fire this weekend from his co-stars after he posted an Instagram video defending his fiancée’s use of the racial slur in the past.

But on Monday, he posted a video changing his tune. “I do not condone the use of the N-word by any non-black person. That includes all Latinos. That’s not our word. I came from an angry place. I couldn’t think straight, and I misspoke.”

The controversy started on Sunday, when he posted a video defending his fiancée, Brazilian actress and model Chrysti Ane, who used the slur in tweets from 2011.

In Sunday’s video, he said, “I have plenty of friends — black, white, Asian, Indian, whatever they are, Korean — and we make fun of each other’s races all the time. We call each other slurs all the time … So, what are y’all trying to get at? You’re trying to prove that somebody that’s not racist is racist? Nah. You don’t have that power. There is no racist energy coming from this household at all.”

By Monday, his “9-1-1” co-stars Aisha Hinds and Oliver Stark condemned him on Twitter. Stark wrote, “I know a lot of you want to hear my thoughts on what a cast member said today on IG live. I can tell you that my opinion is there is absolutely no excuse for the use of the n word. It belongs to the Black community only and I absolutely don’t agree with it being used by … anyone else under any circumstances.”

“I’m not here to bring anybody down,” Guzman said in Monday’s apology video, following Stark and Hinds’ tweeted reprimands. “I apologize to those that I have offended and misrepresented myself by using the wrong term … I will continue to grow, and continue to help out the community.”

“9-1-1” has been renewed for a fourth season.