It was late 2019 when the internet basically exploded over a series of old posts. We’ve all seen the headlines. Someone dug through the archives of a then-teenage pop star and found things that didn't just look bad—they looked career-ending. The Camila Cabello racist tweets and Tumblr reblogs saga is a weird, messy chapter in pop culture history that people still bring up today, mostly because it forced a massive conversation about whether celebrities can actually change.
Honestly, the whole thing felt like a slow-motion car crash for her fans. One minute she’s topping the charts with "Senorita," and the next, a Twitter thread titled "exposing camila cabello's racist and downright disturbing tumblr reblogs" is racking up 20,000 retweets in a single afternoon.
The Receipts: What Was Actually in Those Posts?
So, what are we actually talking about here? It wasn't just one or two edgy jokes. The content, which mostly came from a Tumblr account named "vous-etess-belle" back in 2012 and 2013, was pretty heavy. We're talking reblogged memes that used the N-word, posts that played on harmful Black and Asian stereotypes, and "jokes" that were just plain offensive. Camila was about 15 years old when she posted them.
People were particularly hurt because some of the screenshots seemed to target her own former bandmate from Fifth Harmony, Normani. This added a layer of personal betrayal to the systemic issues already at play.
The backlash was instant. For many, it didn't matter that she was a kid when she hit "reblog." The language was hurtful. It was "horrific," as one Twitter user put it at the time, and for a lot of people, an apology just wasn't going to cut it.
The 2019 Apology and the "Uneducated" Defense
Camila didn't go the "I was hacked" route. She owned it. On December 18, 2019, she posted a lengthy statement on Twitter and Instagram. She said she was "deeply ashamed" and would regret using that language forever.
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She used a phrase that we hear a lot now: "I was uneducated and ignorant."
"I’m 22 now, I’m an adult and I’ve grown and learned and am conscious and aware of the history and the pain [this] carries in a way I wasn’t before," she wrote.
It’s a tough spot to be in. How do you prove you aren't that person anymore? For many Black fans and people of color, hearing a white-passing Latina celebrity say she didn't know the N-word was offensive felt like a stretch. But Camila doubled down on the idea that her "heart has never, even then, had any ounce of hate."
Why the Story Didn't Die in 2019
Most celeb scandals have a shelf life of about 72 hours. This one stuck. Maybe it’s because the Camila Cabello racist tweets weren't just a one-off mistake but a collection of posts over a year or two. Or maybe it’s because the pop world is notoriously protective of its stars, and the cognitive dissonance of a "sweet" singer having this "dark" digital past was too much to ignore.
In 2020, Normani finally spoke out in a Rolling Stone interview. She was honest about how much it sucked. She said it was "devastating" that the behavior came from someone she considered a sister.
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Normani’s take was nuanced, though. She said:
- She struggled to talk about it because she didn't want it to be her narrative.
- She faces senseless attacks daily as a Black woman.
- It took Camila years to take responsibility for the tweets.
That last point is what really stung the fans. The delay made it feel like the apology only came because she got caught, not because she had a sudden change of heart.
Taking it Further: The Racial Healing Sessions
By 2021, Camila realized that a Notes-app apology wasn't going to fix her reputation. She started doing the actual work. She told People magazine that she had been attending weekly "racial healing" sessions with the National Compadres Network.
This wasn't just a PR stunt—at least, it didn't look like one on paper. She was doing homework. She was being corrected in real-time. She even partnered with the Movement Voter Fund to launch the Healing Justice Project, putting up $250,000 to support ten different organizations like Black Leaders Organizing Communities and QLatinx.
Basically, she opened her wallet and her schedule.
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The Lasting Impact on Her Career
Does it still matter? Sorta. If you look at her streaming numbers, she's doing fine. But if you look at her "brand," there’s a permanent asterisk there.
Every time she releases a new song or gets a movie role, the screenshots resurface. That's just the reality of the internet in 2026. Your 15-year-old self is always just one search query away.
Some people believe she’s done more than almost any other celeb to "make it right." Others think the damage is done and they're just not interested in supporting her. Both are valid. Accountability isn't a destination; it's more like a permanent state of being.
What We Can Learn From the Camila Scandal
If you're looking for the takeaway here, it's not just "don't post racist stuff when you're 15." That's obvious.
The real lesson is about the digital footprint. We are the first generations of humans who have to live with the dumbest, most ignorant versions of ourselves forever. For a celebrity, that's a billion-dollar problem. For a regular person, it's a "losing a job offer" problem.
- Check your archives. If you had a Tumblr or a Twitter in 2012, go back and look at it. You might be surprised (and horrified) at what you thought was "edgy" back then.
- Apologies require action. Camila’s apology didn't start working until she started the Healing Justice Project. Words are cheap; $250,000 and weekly education sessions are not.
- Listen to the people hurt. The most important part of this whole saga wasn't Camila’s apology—it was Normani’s reaction. If you hurt a specific community, they get to decide when (or if) the apology is accepted.
Ultimately, the Camila Cabello racist tweets serve as a case study for the "cancel culture" era. Can a person grow? Yeah, probably. But the internet never forgets, and the price of moving forward is a lifetime of proving you've actually changed.
Next Steps for Staying Informed:
If you're interested in how celebrities navigate digital accountability, you should look into the specific work done by the National Compadres Network. Understanding the "racial healing" framework they use can give you a better idea of what "doing the work" actually looks like in a professional setting, rather than just relying on social media optics.