Tana Mongeau apologized to 2 former friends for racist microaggressions, but neither of them accepted her apology

• YouTuber Tana Mongeau posted an apology video on Friday to her former collaborators Kahlen Barry and Simply Nessa (Nessa Briella).
• Both Barry and Briella previously made videos about how Mongeau mishandled her friendships and working relationships with them.
• They said that included her and her manager Jordan Worona making racist microaggressions toward them.
• In her video, Mongeau denied being racist and said she would work to address her performative activism during the Black Lives Matter protests.
• Her apology was critiqued for sounding scripted.

Late Friday afternoon, YouTuber Tana Mongeau delivered an apology video to former collaborators Kahlen Barry and Simply Nessa (Nessa Briella).

Mongeau apologized to her former friends and fellow YouTubers, both of whom had previously accused her and her manager Jordan Worona of leveraging derogatory Black stereotypes against them in the form of microaggressions.

Fans were disappointed with Mongeau's 14-minute video, especially since Barry and Briella both say Mongeau has yet to reach out to them personally to talk through their accusations and apologize.

With professional hair and makeup, Mongeau's "long overdue apology" video was uncharacteristic of her usually candid, sitting-on-the-floor-style videos. It marks Mongeau's fifth "apology video," but just one of the dozens of times she's used her online platform to apologize to her fans, in a meta genre of content that has exploded on YouTube in recent years.

In the past, the 22-year-old YouTuber has apologized for old, racist tweets and videos that showed her using the N-word slur in a derogatory manner.

Mongeau has become known for problematic and offensive behavior, exemplified by her failed "Tanacon" convention in 2018. As her YouTube channel has evolved, Mongeau has become known for her non-stop partying (even during the pandemic), bad kid behavior, and endless drama.

Mongeau specifically apologized to Kahlen Barry and Nessa Briella, her former friends and collaborators, in her latest video

Two of Mongeau's former friends, Kahlen Barry and Nessa Briella (known for her YouTube channel Simplynessa15), posted videos about her weeks apart in June and July. The two, who are both Black, said that Mongeau and Worona exhibited a pattern of racist microaggressions — brief and commonplace actions that either intentionally or unintentionally communicate aggressive attitudes toward marginalized groups — toward them.

Barry co-starred with Mongeau on a collaborative channel called Trash, and in his 2020 exposé, he described Mongeau lying about him to people in the YouTube community behind his back and leveraging negative stereotypes about Black men against him in the wake of her own N-word scandals.

In June, Barry invited Mongeau to have a live discussion with him about his experiences with her, but after exchanging a few DMs, Mongeau stopped responding to him. Barry told Insider in July that he didn't want Mongeau to put out an apology video, and rather, he wanted her to listen to her critics and make meaningful changes.

"I had people like Kahlen Barry specifically call me out and try to open my eyes and make me better, but I was so stuck in my narcissistic, egotistical ways that I was convinced I was a good person and had nothing to learn," Mongeau said in her recent apology video. "You truthfully tried and you would have saved me a whole lot of hell if I had listened to you and I want you to know that I know that and I live with that."

Mongeau went on to say she was being "microaggressive" toward Barry during their working relationship and said she would hold herself accountable by apologizing and educating herself, including immediately if and when she behaves in an inappropriate way in the future.

"I didn't know what microaggression was and never bothered to educate myself or see any of the validity in the things that were being brought to light before my eyes because I was so convinced that I simply wasn't a racist person and had nothing to learn," Mongeau said.

Mongeau also apologized to Briella, although she specified that she didn't attribute her behavior to racism, but rather to being an immature teenager.

Briella, who had been a client of Mongeau's manager Worona before Mongeau, accused the pair of lying about her behind her back and characterizing her as an "angry Black woman" in order to distance themselves from her once Mongeau started becoming more successful. She also discussed a social media feud Mongeau escalated between the two in 2017, which Briella says directed an outpouring of harassment toward her.

"Who was I at that time to be a b---- to someone else, to be a bad friend, to handle the situation immaturely?" Mongeau said about Briella in her recent apology video. "There was never a point when I ever feel that I was treating you in any way based on the color of your skin, however, if you feel that is why I treated you that way, again, I want to say I'm sorry and take accountability for the action because that is the right thing to do."

Mongeau also agreed with critics of her support of the Black Lives Matter movement that she had been exhibiting performative activism, by promoting racial justice while failing to hold herself accountable for her own microaggressions or apologize for past racist behavior.

Barry and Briella both said they don't accept Mongeau's recent apology

Almost immediately, Mongeau's apology video began attracting more negative attention than positive attention. Both Barry and Briella described it as a failure in answering their claims and demonstrating any type of growth beyond Mongeau's previous apology videos.

Barry and Briella also said that they commented on Mongeau's video to say that they weren't accepting the apology, but that Mongeau deleted their comments.

Barry tweeted at Mongeau to ask why she deleted his and Briella's comments, and he also described her video as "tone deaf," writing, "ignorance isn't something you can mask. that apology was tone deaf bc u didn't do the work to understand the issue."

Barry went on to call the segment of Mongeau's video addressing her actions toward Briella "disgusting," referencing when Mongeau said, "I also completely validate your frustrations Nessa seeing me get so many things so easily that were probably so much more difficult or impossible for you."

Briella also responded negatively to the way Mongeau addressed her, quoting that part of the video and writing "I'm sorry did she just say 'I'm sorry if you feel the things I've gotten feel impossible for you to get' IMPOSSIBLE???????!!!!!"

Briella's reaction included calling the video "so clearly scripted," and asking, "Was someone holding up cards!??"

Mongeau's apology video fell flat, although she says it wasn't scripted by anyone else

Enough people characterized the apology video as "scripted" that Mongeau made a follow-up Instagram story denying that anyone else had written her words, and saying that it was heavily edited because she paused to cry and get emotional, but cut that footage out for the final product.

Mongeau apologized for all her previous apology videos in her most recent iteration, and she said this one will be her last. But already, she's seemingly walked back the video, which has more than twice the number of dislikes than likes.

YouTube commentary channel Keemstar responded to Mongeau's apology with a video rebuke of his own — although, notably, he didn't know what Mongeau was apologizing for, and seemed to think she was just reiterating her 2017 apology for using the N-word slur.

Keemstar said Mongeau seemed out of character in her most recent apology video, which is why he believes it was received so poorly. He advised her to double down on not apologizing and suggested that her career was at risk of dying out if she didn't return to what her fans expected from her.

Mongeau replied and agreed with Keemstar, writing, "I was just scared of sounding upset or emotional or crying so I cut that all out. I don't want people to think I was being emotional."

She said she plans to release a follow-up apology video addressing criticism this one has received.

Mongeau and Worona didn't respond to Insider's requests for comment.

• Read more:
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