HGTV’s Nicole Curtis Offers Explanation for Using Racial Slur on ‘Rehab Addict’ Set

Nicole Curtis is offering more context on the circumstances that led to the cancellation of her HGTV show.

Last month, Rehab Addict returned with new Season 9 episodes after a months-long hiatus. The same day the show aired new episodes on HGTV, the network pulled the plug on the series after a video was leaked of Curtis using a racial slur on set.

“Oh, fart n*****,” she said in the footage, originally released by RadarOnline. “What the f*** is that I just said?” she added before asking someone off camera to “kill that.” She went on to mumble, “F*** my life.”

Curtis appeared on the Tuesday, March 10, episode of The Breakfast Club radio show to offer some explanation for her comments. “Do you have boys? OK, so, boys talk about farts all the time,” she told the hosts after DJ Envy asked about her using the phrases “fart digger” and “fart knocker.” She added, “And again, I can’t swear on my show. So yes, I’ve made up these crazy words.”

Curtis said she doesn’t “have a rhyme or reason [for] the words that I make up” and says “nonsense stuff all the time.” She shared, “I edit my shows. Right? And I’ll be editing my shows, and I’ll be like, ‘F***. Just finish what the f*** you’re saying,’ ‘cause I go off. I’m like, this and that, and I’m off the cuff. I’m not scripted.”

Charlamagne Tha God asked Curtis, “Were you trying to say something else in that moment?” She replied, “Absolutely.”

Jess Hilarious said she appreciated that Curtis apologized specifically to her kids, as well as to the public. “You’ve got your 28-year-old, but you have kids in school, and they may have Black friends. You know what I’m saying?” Hilarious stated. “And for them to see their friend’s mom use the term, and then they could be bullied for that, they could have to pay that price.” (Curtis welcomed her sons, Ethan and Harper, during previous relationships.)

“I apologized to them because that is just like — we live in Detroit,” Curtis began before Charlamagne Tha God interrupted to ask, “What are you trying to prove here when you keep saying you’re from Detroit?”

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Loren Lorosa chimed in, stating, “I think it’s a learning moment for you, because we don’t have the privilege to not understand what we’re saying, why we’re saying it. So, even in this moment, you may not mean anything by saying ‘I live in Detroit.’ But even if you didn’t get caught saying the N-word on this video, it still would come off as very privileged and very unbalanced because it’s different for us. And that’s what we’re trying to have a conversation about.”

Curtis wrapped up the discussion by emphasizing that she does not use offensive terms such as the N-word and the R-word.

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Curtis followed up the interview by thanking the radio show’s hosts via Instagram. “Everyone advised against this, to be honest. no one thought this was a good idea for me and I reached out and asked if they would have the conversation,” she said of the interview. “Here’s what happens in life when we stay in our own echo chambers -we stay stuck.”

She continued, “Thank you to Loren for answering my call. I realize they are getting heat for giving me time from their followers, I think it’s time we all got out of our comfort zones and have these conversations. Thank to Jess -this pic is, seriously, 2 moms chatting about life, kids, struggles. God Bless .”

HGTV previously reacted to Curtis’ leaked video in a February statement, telling multiple outlets, “Not only is language like this hurtful and disappointing to our viewers, partners, and employees – it does not align with the values of HGTV.”

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