To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before actor Israel Broussard is apologizing to fans for a series of inappropriate tweets from his past.
Israel Broussard rose to social media fame following his portrayal of Laura Jean’s love interest, Josh Sanderson, in popular Netflix film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. But the actor’s charm faded among fans when tweets from his past promoting racist and homophobic rhetoric resurfaced.
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On Tuesday, the 24-year-old actor took to Twitter to apologize for his controversial behavior.
— Israel Broussard (@israelbroussard) August 22, 2018
“I am deeply sorry for my inappropriate and insensitive words and likes on social media. I take full responsibility for my actions and I sincerely apologize,” he wrote. “This has been a pivotal life lesson for me. I am dedicated to becoming a more informed and educated version of myself.”
Screenshots shared on Twitter of the since deleted tweets showed one post dated July 8, 2016, in which Broussard criticized the Black Lives Matter movement.
Josh aka Israel Broussard from to all the boys i’ve loved before ….is already cancelled pic.twitter.com/R9sLbKBxg1
— tyler 🕸 (@hoIlandstoms) August 19, 2018
“Hashtags don’t f–king matter. But all lives do. Black lives matter. White lives matter. Police lives matter.”
In another tweet, dated Oct. 27, 2009, he wrote “I’m not going out for a gay role, thank you. Haha.”
It is also reported that the actor had liked a 2015 tweet claiming that the Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 children and six adults were killed, was “staged” in order to “traumatize” and “disarm the public.”
Broussard is far from the first celebrity to face criticism due to their past social media behavior. In May, Bachelorette contestant Garrett Yrigoyen drew backlash after he liked offensive posts on Instagram mocking the transgender community, a Parkland school shooting survivor, undocumented immigrants, and more.
Yrigoyen later released a lengthy apology for the scandal, claiming that he took “full responsibility for my ‘likes’ on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive” and that he “never realized the power behind a mindless double tap on Instagram and how it bears so much weight on people’s lives.”
Yrigoyen concluded by requesting that the Bachelor Nation let his “mistakes be a lesson for those who mindlessly double tap images, memes, and videos on any social media content that could be many things including hurtful, degrading, and dehumanizing” and stating the he did not want his mistake to “define” him.