‘Game of Thrones’ star Sophie Turner has denied using a racial slur in an Instagram video that has gone viral, claiming that she was misheard.
The 21 year old English actress sparked a huge backlash on social media after many believed she used the ‘n-word’ in a clip shared by her boyfriend Joe Jonas that has since been deleted after it went up earlier this week. It showed fitness guru Brendan Fallis introducing the star and Jonas, before she allegedly used the offensive term (which is unintelligible in the video itself and up for debate) having said “what’s up”.
Sophie Turner at the 2017 BAFTA Awards
Responding to the criticism, Turner insisted that she was misheard and that she was “incredibly upset” by the allegations that she deliberately used a piece of racist terminology.
In a statement released to The Wrap on Wednesday (May 10th), Turner said: “I used the word ‘motherf******’ in a recent video posted in an Instagram story and not a hateful racial slur that has been suggested. I am incredibly upset that anyone would think otherwise, and I want to make it clear that I would never use such an abhorrent word.”
More: Sophie Turner talks about Sansa Stark and ‘Game of Thrones’ season 7
Social media had reacted badly to the footage, with a fan account announcing it was shutting down as a result. “Sophie Turner says the N-word casually and laughs about it and this marks the end of this updates account,” it read.
Another fan leapt to her defence, however, writing: “Listen to that Sophie Turner tape closely it’s ‘what’s up mutha*****’. There’s an odd pause w bad audio. UK folks leave US slang alone. Thnx.”
Turner has played the character of Sansa Stark on the smash HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ ever since it began in 2011, and is due to reprise her character in the forthcoming seventh season that it coming later in 2017.
More: 20th Century Fox confirm ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ and reveal release date
