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GINA RODRIGUEZ ON SWAY IN THE MORNING

Source: Maro Hagopian / Maro Hagopian

Questioning Black excellence was not the best career move for Gina Rodriguez. The actress experienced a lot of hurt when she was attacked for raising the question regarding equal pay.

This week the Jane The Virgin lead paid a visit to SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning show to promote her upcoming film Miss Bala. The discussion then turned to some commentary she made that got her in hot water last year.

In November 2018 Rodriguez took part in a Net-a-porter round table alongside Ellen Pompeo, Emma Roberts and Gabrielle Union. When discussing television she stated that Black women are noticeably paid higher than Latinas.

Naturally, the story caught fire online but instead of gracefully acknowledging how her words could be perceived the wrong way she bit back via her Twitter. SiriusXM host Sway Calloway got her to discuss the faux pas that caused her to be dragged to filth. “I always find it difficult to talk about equal pay as a woman who makes a substantial amount of money. As someone who came from poverty to now the amount of money that I get paid, it doesn’t feel right that I’m the one talking about it because I’m just so damn grateful” she explained.

Gina went on to further elaborate her stance. “To then be on a panel with women that I respect and admire and for us to talk about a subject that I find very difficult to talk about… what I was saying was that when we talk about equal pay, we have to talk about intersectionality because we all must rise.”

When discussing the backlash she received she became emotional citing the slander put her in a very weird space. “The Black community was the only community that I looked towards growing up. We didn’t have many Latino shows and the Black community made me feel like I was seen,” she admitted as she cried. “So to get anti-black is saying that I’m anti-family. My father is dark-skinned, he’s Afro-Latino and my cousins are and Puerto Ricans are African, Taino and Spaniard and it’s in blood, so that was really devastating to me.”

GINA RODRIGUEZ ON SWAY IN THE MORNING

Source: Maro Hagopian / Maro Hagopian

Where things got even weirder for the Annihilation star is when she needed to defend her reputation but didn’t know exactly how to given the touchy situation. “What do you say? Sorry for cheating when you didn’t cheat? How do you talk to a bunch of people that all they do is read: ‘Gina Rodriguez Says Controversial Comments About Black Actresses.’

For those still unconvinced she offered to what seemed to be a sincere apology to those offended. “So, if I have hurt you, I am sorry and I will always be sorry, but you have to know that, until you know my heart, there’s no way that we can live off clickbait, you guys!”

You can view the interview in entirety below. The talk about the round table starts at the 12:00 minute mark.

Photo: Maro Hagopian