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Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes Might Be Perfect for Each Other Because They're Both Racists

Or, at the very least, they both posted some pretty racist things as teenagers.

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello47th Annual American Music Awards, Press Room, Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, USA - 24 Nov 2019

Photo by Matt Baron/Shutterstock

Camila Cabello has been doing damage control for a series of racist Tumblr posts that re-emerged from her teenage years.

The Havana singer came under fire yesterday for using the "n-word" and reblogging racist posts on her since-deleted Tumblr blog, "vous-etess-belles." The revelation came from an eviscerating thread posted by a Twitter user named @motivatefenty and revealed that when Cabello was around 14 and 15, she reblogged a multitude of posts that contained racist slurs as well as racist sentiments about Mexicans, Asians, and Black people, and parodied Rihanna for being a victim of domestic violence.

Cabello responded with a tearful apology. "I'm an adult and I've grown and learned and am conscious and aware of the history and the pain it carries in a way I wasn't before," the 22-year-old concluded. "Those mistakes don't represent the person I am or a person I've ever been. I only stand and have ever stood for love and inclusivity, and my heart has never, even then, had any ounce of hate or divisiveness."

While she expressed sorrow at her actions, some panned her reaction as a "non-apology." Upon a closer look, the apology technically doesn't even express regret or a concrete desire to change. Instead, it attempts to excuse what she did, wrapping it up with a typical "I'm not racist and I was never racist because I'm a good person!" response.

Cabello, as The Daily Beast writes, "is one of many of celebrities who, after being confronted with indisputable receipts, have 'apologized' for past incidents of racism without actually holding themselves accountable."

If this all sounds familiar, you might be thinking of Shawn Mendes, Cabello's current boyfriend and duet partner who—back in August—was forced to offer a similar apology to the public when racist tweets surfaced. Like Cabello's posts, the tweets were posted when he was about fourteen and contained the "n-word" as well as other disparaging comments about people of color.

Like Cabello, his apology attempted to excuse his actions rather than distance himself from them. "I apologize for everything insensitive that I said in the past. But with that being said, I think that's not my personality," he wrote at the time. His response was slammed by fans and critics, so you would think that Camila could have at least tried to learn from her boyfriend's mistakes.

For a while, many of us have thought that Cabello and Mendes' relationship was a PR stunt designed to promote their single "Señorita," which, as one Twitter user wrote, would likely play on loop in Hell. But actually, they probably have a lot more in common than most of us thought. Most likely, they make racist jokes in private while lauding each others' innocence, goodness, and sense of humor, all while expressing no desire to actually change or take ownership of their actions.

Excusing racism with humor and clinging to the idea that it doesn't exist because "you're a good person" is how racism gets perpetuated, but not in Shawn and Camila's world. For now, all we can do is pray to every God we know that we won't get a cheeky "Sorry"-type apology duet.

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From Lizzo's Tiny Purse to Selena Gomez's Shaky Return: The Internet's Hottest AMA Takes

In terms of memes, the AMAs didn't disappoint. In other respects, of course it disappointed. It's the AMAs.

Billie and Dua Lipa at the AMAs 2019 #billieeilish #dualipa #shorts

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As we know, the Internet is the world's most accurate and knowledgeable arbiter of talent, and Twitter users and entertainment bloggers are the definitive arbiters of taste and quality.

Also, the AMAs are notorious for selecting top-tier talent, never catering to the whims of the music industry and their own moneyed interests, but rather elevating the voices of artists who deserve to be honored...That said, here's what the Internet had to say about the AMAs.

1. Selena Gomez's performance was off-key—but it wasn't her fault

After nearly two years away from the stage, Selena Gomez returned to perform her new song "Lose You to Love Me." The Internet immediately responded with harsh criticism, calling her performance off-key, but many leapt to her defense, arguing that nerves and her long absence from performing played a role.

Apparently, the performance was plagued by technical difficulties from start to finish, and Gomez also had a "panic attack" before the show, according to E! News. Fortunately, Gomez seemed to be doing well later in the night, and, after hearing about the technical difficulties, fans have swarmed to her defense.

2. Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello gave us more of the same

Heterosexual icons Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello are milking their "Señorita" success for all it's worth, and they brought the same recipe to the AMAs. Unfortunately, the repetition caused fans to actually listen to the song instead of being mesmerized by Cabello's hair and Mendes' biceps, which caused some confusion and doubts.

3. Lizzo's purse was the best part of the entire show

Lizzo's tiny purse made headlines in TIME magazine, CNN, Harper's Bazaar, Jezebel, Buzzfeed, and many other major news sources, many of which argued that the purse was "the best part of the entire show," so if anything, that ought to tell you something about the show. It also inspired a flurry of delicious memes.

Admittedly, the purse was pretty iconic. Maybe we can all resolve to belch extra-tiny amounts of fossil fuels into the atmosphere next.

4. Taylor Swift "avoided controversy"

Taylor Swift won Artist of the Decade at the AMAs and, after asking the entire Internet for help and gaining sympathy and support from everyone from Elizabeth Warren to Cher, it turned out that she was able to triumph over adversity in order to perform her old hits. She also won all five of the awards she was nominated for and became the most awarded artist in the history of the AMAs.

5. Post Malone is adorable

Post Malone won the award for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop album for Hollywood's Bleeding, but he also won the award for king of good vibes when the camera caught him dancing along to Shania Twain's medley.

All in all, Posty had a great night. He performed with Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott, and during his album acceptance speech, he solidified his place in awards show history with a peculiar closing line. Just as he was finishing up, he said, "We love you very much and I love grapes."

This sparked a flurry of speculation about the meaning of that cryptic phrase and also caused the Internet to conclude that Post Malone is someone who would be really fun to have a beer with. Maybe we should just elect Post Malone for president; after all, the mark of a great elected official is how fun they'd be to have a beer with. Right?

6. BTS won big, and the ARMY can sleep well tonight

The K-pop powerhouse group won all three of the categories they were nominated in, taking home the awards for Favorite Social Artist, Tour of the Year, and Favorite Duo or Group. Fans were ecstatic, especially since BTS has been slighted by awards shows (cough, the Grammys) in the past.

7. Kesha, Green Day, and Shania Twain returned

The AMAs provided plenty of nostalgia to tug on the heartstrings of their older viewers. Kesha returned to blow everyone away with her hit "Tik Tok"; Green Day celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of their album Dookie and reinvigorated emo with their performance; and Shania Twain blew everyone (most of all Post Malone) out of the water.9. Halsey threw shade at the Grammys

We all know that the AMAs are just a somehow more watered-down Grammys, and Halsey reminded us that though she won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Song for her smash hit "Without Me," she's bitter over her Grammys snub and disillusioned with the trappings of fame and awards on the whole.

In spite of her speech, most people were impressed with her performance.

8.Lil Nas X made everyone emotional

Despite being 20 years old and set for life thanks to the success of his very first single, the wunderkind (clad in an instantly iconic neon green suit) reminded everyone that it's never too late to shine.

9. Ciara and Megan Thee Stallion invented knees

Ciara hosted, performed her new single "Melanin," rocked every one of her looks, received her first platinum plaque as a music label owner, twerked with Megan Thee Stallion (who also delivered some priceless moments), and cemented her place as an eternal star and a person entirely immune to the passage of time.

10. Billie Eilish is really scary and very talented—but she's not alt-rock

I don't think I'm alone in saying Billie Eilish is the embodiment of everything that terrifies and amazes me about Gen Z teen girls. During her first awards show performance, she literally lit the stage on fire.

Despite her talent, viewers were quick to criticize the category she won in (alt-rock).

Then again, music is perpetually changing, genre is just about as real as gender (which is to say it's not real and was created by capitalism), and all of us old folk who don't understand how Billie Eilish won for alt-rock will be dead soon or relegated to the dusty attics of "Ok Boomer" land soon enough anyway.

11. We're all going to be telling our kids about this someday

Apparently nobody's sticking to their vow not to have kids until we stop the climate crisis, because almost every performance in the AMAs become the subject of a "gonna tell my kids" meme. Poor kids.