Big Brother 21 winner Jackson Michie has issued an apology after he shared an Instagram post that left some fans confused about his thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement.
“So, I turn 25 this Saturday, on June 13, and over the past 24 years, I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” the controversial reality star said in an Instagram video on Thursday.
“And these past few weeks, these past posts, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. And it is my fault and I’m sorry.”
Jackson went on to apologize for “not being educated enough to understand that I will never understand what it’s like to be African American, to be a person of color, to be black in this country and in this world.”
“I stand with you, and I’m sorry. Black lives matter, and I’m sorry,” he closed off his video.
Fellow Big Brother star Chris “Swaggy C” Williams responded to the message in the comments section.
“THIS IS F*CKING GROWTH BRO!!!!!!” the Chris wrote.
“Your life matters JUST as much as mine! But when we say black lives matter, we’re just saying cops don’t treat us as if we matter .. and we’re just saying our lives matter too!”
“Not trying to diminish yours or anybody else’s. In the eyes of cops, we feels ours is valued less. Glad you understand bro.”
“The movement isn’t trying to divide. Just trying to bring equality! Def appreciate this from you bro. Real talk.”
Michie, who won last year’s edition of the CBS series, shared an Instagram post earlier this month in which he talked about
“living through one of the most bizarre and unprecedented times” and quoted the Pledge of Allegiance.
Many fans praised him in the comments section of said post, but others took issue because he did not explicitly say he supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
“So wait are you with #BlackLivesMatter or??? Your words are vague and unclear on where you stand,” said one fan, while another added, “You said all that and not once did you say ‘black lives matter.’”
He revealed a day later that he did support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Jackson was a controversial figure on Big Brother last summer and was called about by several co-stars about the way he treated them.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.