WARNING: This story contains explicit language.
Dances Moms star Abby Lee Miller issued an apology on Thursday after being accused of racist behaviour by Adriana Smith who is the mother of dancer Kamryn Smith from Season 8 of the series.
“I couldn’t think of a more perfect day to address my experience with Abby Lee Miller,” Smith captioned her post on Instagram.
“I recently posted on my FB (Facebook) that Racism is not something we can disagree on and still be friends, which in turn is why we are not friends,” Smith wrote of her relationship with Miller.
“A statement from her that sticks in my mind to this day during my time on DMS8 (Dance Moms Season 8] is ‘I know you grew up in the HOOD with only a box of 8 crayons, but I grew up in the Country Club with a box of 64 – don’t be stupid,” Smith wrote.
“This to me shows that you think you are better than me and in higher rank and all together superior to ME! This to me shows that you don’t give a fu– about me or where I came from.”
Smith accused Miller of using her daughter in Season 8.
“Do you remember you told me, ‘Do you want me to tell you why you are really here?’ lol as if I didn’t know,” she continued. “Let me remind you what you said in case you forgot! You told me to ‘LOOK in the MIRROR! That’s the only reason you are here!’ Kam told me she heard ‘they needed a sprinkle of colour!”
She also mentioned that she had to speak about it during her last interview on Dance Moms.
“My last interview I was asked by my producer so how did all of that make you feel? As tears streamed down my face I look over at my 7 year old and back at the camera and say, this is my EVERYDAY life as a Black woman,” she wrote. “This is nothing new to me. But what I’m not going to have happen is have this racist person have any part of my daughter’s life as of this moment.”
She said that her producer told her she needed her “to be okay with leaving.”
“I said absolutely Kam was so upset with me. She yelled at me and said mom now I don’t even get to hang out with Jojo [Siwa] on the show, and I don’t wanna leave my friends,” she wrote. “She said mom you ruined it you ruined it for me. Of course she was mad she was 7 and I felt so bad for her.”
“What I’m not going to have happen is have this racist person have any part of my daughters life as of this moment.”
Smith said that was the moment she knew “it was more important for me to show my daughter that she has to stand up for what’s right and not care about anything else.”
Miller apologized to Smith and Kamryn on Thursday, writing, “I genuinely understand and deeply regret how my words have effected and hurt those around me in the past, particularly those in the Black community.”
“To Kamryn, Adriana, and anyone else I’ve hurt, I am truly sorry.”
Miller continued, “I realize that racism can come not just from hate, but also from ignorance. No matter the cause, it is harmful, and it is my fault. While I cannot change the past or remove the harm I have done, I promise to educate myself, learn, grown, and do better.”
“While I hope to one day earn your forgiveness, I recognize that words alone are not enough. I understand it takes time and genuine change,” MILLER concluded.
Smith told Entertainment Weekly (EW) in a statement hat she does “not accept Abby’s apology because her apology was not sincere.”
“My purpose with my original post was to share my story and how it negatively impacted my daughter and it resonated with many others because of the distressing times in our country,” Smith said. “At this point, this is bigger than me and Kamryn. It’s about the potential effect that she has on the future of dance and negative, stereotypical influences on young, aspiring dancers of color.”
“I firmly believe that if Abby was truly sorry, she would have apologized a year ago when she exposed my then 7-year-old daughter to her first account of racism,” Smith added.
Another mom from Dance Moms named Camille Bridges told E! News, “(Miller) tried to spin Camryn as being the poor one and there on scholarship. I shut that down immediately. She loves appropriating our culture and never appreciating it. She did not give Black choreographers on the show acknowledgment of their work. She continuously put Camryn in Afros.”
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