Singer Shawn Mendes apologizes for racially insensitive past tweets
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shawn Mendes has apologized after defending himself about the racially "insensitive" tweets he sent as a 14-year-old boy.
The singer, 21, had previously said he wanted to "move on" from the N-word posts that saw him talk about "light-skinned girls."
But after backlash, Shawn has now told fans he "wholeheartedly apologizes."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CAMILA CABELLO GUSHES OVER NEW BOYFRIEND SHAWN MENDES
Writing on Instagram, Shawn said: "I posted some racially insensitive comments on social media when I was younger and I am so sorry.
"I apologize wholeheartedly for what was said and understand how offensive those posts were.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There is no place for comments like that and those words do not represent who I am. I stand for complete exclusivity, equality and love."
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In the now-deleted tweets, Shawn appears to refer to a friend writing: "A regular day with m n**** kareem[sic]"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another reads "light-skinned girls>>."
In another he posts a selfie with his hair sticking up along with the caption: "I have an AFRO!"
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a Q&A with an upset fan who quizzed him about the tweets, Shawn said:"A lot of things just need to be moved on from, but I also think that the things that [you] saw, like I had friends when I was 14 who would like take my phone and post things of them because they thought it was funny that I had like 2,000 followers and it was this big thing.
"They’d post photos of themselves and at the time I was just like not thinking about it.
"I had no idea I was going to have 50 million followers, which doesn't make it any better.
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"But yeah totally I apologize for everything insensitive I said in the past, but with that being said, yeah, I think that’s not my personality."
Shawn is now dating Camila Cabello after their racy music track "Senorita."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They're set to perform for the first time together since confirming their romance at the VMAs next week.
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This article originally appeared in The Sun.