Noah Cyrus apologizes for using racist language while defending Harry Styles from Candace Owens

• Noah Cyrus apologized for using racist language to defend Harry Styles from conservative commentator Candace Owens on Thursday.
• The singer, 20, recently faced backlash for saying that Styles, who Owens criticized for wearing a dress on the December Vogue cover, wore the garment "better than any of u nappy a-- heauxz."
• Cyrus issued a statement via Instagram explaining that she's "mortified" that she used "nappy," a term with racist connotations, without understanding its "context and history."
• "I know now and i am horrified and truly sorry. I will never use it again. thank you for educating me. i in no way meant to offend anyone. i am so so sorry," she wrote.

Noah Cyrus issued an apology for using racist language to defend Harry Styles from conservative commentator Candace Owens on Thursday.

The singer, 20, sparked outrage after she weighed in on the feud between Styles and Owens, who called the "Fine Line" singer's decision to wear a dress on the December Vogue cover "an outright attack" on masculinity and pleaded to "bring back manly men."

"He wears this dress better than any of u nappy a-- heauxz," Cyrus wrote on her Instagram story on Wednesday, sharing a photograph taken by Tyler Mitchell from Styles' Vogue shoot.

Her use of 'nappy,' a racist term with a history linked to slavery, led to a flood of criticism online

Cyrus' name quickly began trending on Twitter, and Owens directly called out Cyrus for using the racist term.

"Any one of woke liberals care to explain to me how @noahcyrus calling me a "nappy a-- hoe" is not racist? I'm all ears. You guys love cancel culture. @MileyCyrus come get your sister," she tweeted.

Other people on Twitter also took offense to Cyrus' message, wondering why she, a white woman, was using a term with racist connotations.

They also pointed out that the story was live for nearly 24 hours before she issued an apology or deleted it, despite the growing backlash online.

The 'July' singer apologized on Thursday, stating that she didn't understand the term's racist connotation when she wrote the message

"I am mortified that i used a term without knowing the context and history, but i know now and i am horrified and truly sorry," she wrote, per her Instagram story.

Cyrus continued: "I will never use it again. thank you for educating me. i in no way meant to offend anyone. i am so so sorry."

Although Cyrus apologized and promised not to say the term again, many people doubted the singer didn't know the word's connotation before writing her message, especially given that she was raised in Tennessee, a slave state until 1864.

As for Styles, he responded to Owens' criticism by sharing a photograph from Variety's 2020 Hitmakers issue on Wednesday

In the image, taken by Parker Woods, he wears a pleated blouse under his baby blue blazer and bites into a banana.

"Bring back manly men," he captioned the image on Instagram, a direct reference to Owen's tweet.

In his December cover story for Vogue, which marked the first time a man graced the magazine's cover alone, Styles explained that he views fashion as a space for exploration.

"I'll put on something that feels really flamboyant, and I don't feel crazy wearing it. I think if you get something that you feel amazing in, it's like a superhero outfit," he said, adding, "Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with."

As the barriers between men's clothing and women's clothing have slowly faded, the "Watermelon Sugar" singer said it's opened up new possibilities for him.

"There's so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I've never really thought too much about what it means - it just becomes this extended part of creating something," he said.

Representatives for Cyrus didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.