Love Is Blind season four star Marshall Glaze has issued an apology after receiving backlash for resurfaced tweets that many people deemed as “colourist” and “anti-Black”.
The tweets resurfaced on social media this week when fans of the Netflix reality series shared screenshots of Glaze’s posts dating back to 2011, in which he made insensitive comments about Black women.
The 27-year-old marketing manager took to Twitter on 20 April to apologise for his past comments, and explained why he decided not to delete the tweets. “I’m seeing a lot of my old tweets surface from years ago. This happens to pretty much everyone who goes into the public eye. It happened to my cousin and I knew it’d happen to me,” he began his Twitter thread, referring to his cousin Justin Glaze, who also faced backlash after The Bachelorette fans resurfaced his “ignorant and hurtful” tweets.
“Let me be clear,” the Love Is Blind star continued, before turning his tweets on private. “Like I said to someone earlier…things change. I was a sad teenager with a lot of issues when I tweeted a lot of that. I’ve grown and do not feel or think the same way.”
Glaze went on to explain that “anyone with anything to hide would have gone back and deleted” the offensive tweets, but he decided to leave them on his Twitter profile “for a reason” even though he “had a chance to go back and erase it.”
“It’s my progression as an individual. As a human. Those old tweets are just my proof that I have evolved,” he said. “I thank God for the opportunity to be damaged, seek clarity and forgiveness, and develop into a better person.”
Earlier this week, Marshall Glaze’s old tweets began circulating online after Reddit user u/No_animereader1471 posted screenshots in the Reddit forum r/LoveIsBlindOnNetflix. Some of the tweets, which were made when Glaze was around 15 to 18 years old, shared many negative opinions about Black women and his preference towards Latina women.
“A group of sad Black girls that sit in a damn circle sharing their stories on why MEN ‘ain’t s***’,” he wrote in one tweet. “I’ll tell you, BLACK females. Why?”
In another tweet, Glaze wrote: “You walk into a restaurant and what do you see? A white couple, a Hispanic couple, an Asian couple, OH and a group of Black girls.”
“Latina girls know how to treat their dude!” he said in one tweet, while another read: “I want a Latina girlfriend, only so she could speak Spanish when we… Yea lol.”
Many Love Is Blind fans shared their disappointment after discovering Glaze’s past tweets, while others admitted that they weren’t surprised yet another celebrity or reality star has issued an apology for their past insensitive remarks.
“Colourism and anti-Blackness is like a rite of passage for these lot. Spooky,” said one person on Twitter.
“So Marshall had anti-Black women tweets,” said someone else, along with a GIF that read, “Pretends to be shocked”.
“I’m tired of Black women being told to get over stuff. We have the right to be mad at Marshall for those tweets,” another fan said.
While many fans took Glaze’s side after fellow Love Is Blind contestant Jackelina Bonds called off their engagement, some people shared they were switching teams in light of his resurfaced tweets.
“Damn Marshall we were all rooting for you until those black girl tweets resurfaced from 2014,” said one person, while another tweeted: “After seeing Marshall’s past tweets resurface, I’m happy Jackie kept the ring.”
In season four of Love Is Blind, Marshall Glaze and Jackelina Bonds went through many ups and downs throughout their short-lived relationship. The two formed a deep emotional connection in the pods, but the 27-year-old dental assistant also sparked romance with fellow cast member Josh Demas.
The newly engaged couple had many heated arguments when they returned home to Seattle, including one that led Glaze to pack his things and leave their shared apartment. Former fling Josh Demas re-entered the picture, causing Bonds to address her feelings for him. When the two reconnected, Demas said that losing her was his “biggest regret” and Bonds admitted that she “chose wrong” in accepting Glaze’s proposal.
After Bonds didn’t show up for her wedding dress fitting, the couple called off their engagement in episode 10 – but not without Bonds telling Glaze that she will be keeping her engagement ring.
The live reunion special for Love Is Blind season four aired on Sunday 16 April, after much delay and technical difficulties. While Jackie Bonds and Josh Demas were a no-show at the live reunion, they did reveal in a pre-taped interview with co-host Vanessa Lachey that they’ve been dating for a year, moved in together, and are already parents to a dog. While speaking to Lachey, Bonds claimed Marshall called her a “derogatory term” that was meant as a joke, but Marshall later clarified that he never used such a term and the comment was taken out of context.
All episodes of Love Is Blind season four are available to stream on Netflix.
