Social media personality Alex Earle has spoken out about recent allegations regarding her trademarking of offensive comments she previously made on Askfm.
In a statement shared on her Instagram account on Monday, Earl acknowledged that she had repeatedly used racist language on the Q&A site in 2014. She apologized for making the comments.
“A few weeks ago, screenshots from my old ask.fm account surfaced showing me using a slur in the summer of 2014,” Earl wrote. “I take responsibility and want to make it clear that I was 13 and did not understand the deeply offensive meaning behind the word. This is no excuse for using the word in any context or at any age. This is absolutely not how I speak or stand for.”
She continued: “I am deeply sorry that my words hurt so many and led people to believe that I harbor any bias in my heart. I promise you that this could not be further from the truth.”
Screenshots of these offensive comments – which were posted on “Alex Earl Snark Page On Reddit in 2023 — It resurfaced on platforms like TikTok and other subreddits this month. After appearing on a subreddit called Do we know them? In an episode of the podcast hosted by Jessie Smiles and Lily Marston, Earl’s legal team allegedly contacted the hosts.
“Her lawyer called us and said we violated her copyright,” Smiles said on the Aug. 12 episode of the show. Do We Know Them PodcastPeople have been posting screenshots of [her racist posts] “On our subreddit, her lawyer said they had a trademark for it,” she added.
Smiles noted that she and Marston have no affiliation with the subreddit, saying, “We don’t run it, and we have no access to it.”
In her statement, Earl responded to the claims that she trademarked old comments to prevent others from sharing them, calling them “absurd and completely untrue.”
“In my absence from addressing this issue, my silence has allowed others to fill the void with rumors that are not true at all,” Earl wrote.
“I regret the way I handled this situation, allowing so many people to talk me out of saying anything for so long,” Earl added. “I wasn’t sure how to handle it, and unfortunately the advice I received, while well-intentioned, was wrong. I have no one to blame but myself for not standing my ground, going with my gut and speaking up right away.”
diverse I reached out to the Do We Know Them podcast for comment.
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