Masterchef Judge Melissa Leong has spoken out about her feelings regarding the “casual racism” from ex-Bachelorette and news reporter Georgia Love.
Posting to her Instagram story, Leong referenced Love’s since-deleted video which appeared to link Asian restaurants to eating pets, calling this particular type of casual racism the most “insidious”.
“‘Shop attendant or lunch?’, posted on a video of a cat in a Chinese restaurant by someone I know, who also happens to carry a fair amount of influence,” Melissa Leong wrote.
“Casual racism from nice people is possibly the most betraying and insidious kind.
“Not angry, just completely bummed that this video exists and that it isn’t the first joke of this kind made by her,” she said.
“Georgia, I really hope your remorse is real and that you grow in the right direction, because this stuff hurts more people, more than you think. We must be allies for each other for a better world for all.”
In case you’re wondering what this is about, Georgia Love posted a video of a cat sitting in the front window of a dumpling restaurant, captioned: “Shop attendant or lunch?”
The story was met with backlash for its casually racist implications, which Love acknowledged in an apology she posted after deleting the video.
“Earlier I posted a video of a cat in a restaurant window. I meant for this to be a joke about an animal being in a restaurant at lunch service time,” she posted on her Instagram story.
“I meant absolutely no insinuation about the type of animal nor the type of restaurant, but I do see that my post did not come across like that and was offensive.”
“I sincerely apologise for the oversight and offence I have caused. Thank you to those who called me out,” she added.
“This is what we need to make sure we are all accountable and do better. Again, I apologise from the bottom of my heart for the offence caused.”
After the apology was posted, Influencer watchdog and celeb gossip account Aussie Influencer Opinions shared an old post appearing to be from Georgia Love’s Instagram, which depicted the same racist anti-Asian stereotype in meme format.
While Love has apologised for the latest Instagram Story, she hasn’t commented on the older post.
Georgia Love’s employer, Channel 7, is now reportedly investigating the incident.
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