‘Buttons‘ hitmaker Nicole Scherzinger definitely pushed a few of her dedicated fans’ buttons (the wrong way) when she took to social media recently to lend a favorable comment under a post perceived by many to be pro-Trump after the results of this week’s shocking U.S. presidential election.
As seen in the picture above (captured by TMZ), actor Russell Brand took to Instagram on Tuesday (November 5) to celebrate Trump’s win over Kamala Harris by posting a MAGA-inspired hat with the inscription “Make Jesus First Again” – under which Scherzinger commented to suggest she wanted one.
Not long after, Pussycat Dolls fans flooded her personal IG account and slammed her for seemingly outing herself as a Trump supporter.
Weary of the hoopla, Nicole – amid ongoing backlash – took to her Instagram stories to apologize on Friday (November 8).
“I deeply apologize for the hurt caused by my recent engagement with some social media posts. When I commented on these posts, I made the mistake of not realizing that they could be easily interpreted as being politically related and I apologize to anyone who understandably reached that conclusion,” she said to her 6.9 million followers on the platform. “Many presumptions are being drawn, which do not reflect who I am, what I stand for, or who I voted for. Many of the marginalized communities feeling hurt and concerned by the results of the presidential election are people I care about most. I stand with them, as I always have, throughout my life and career. If you know me, you know that.”
And while she did not explicitly deny voting for Trump, she did make clear that she misinterpreted Brand’s post as purely religious and not political.
“Like so many others, in times of adversity and uncertainty I turn to my faith. I believed that the posts I engaged with were about encouraging people to choose love and faith – ‘putting Jesus first,’” she relayed.
Read the full statement below.
