Nicole Curtis Doubles Down on Apology for Using Racial Slur, Claims Video Was 'Stolen' from Her
Nicole Curtis Doubles Down on Apology for Using Racial Slur, Claims Video Was 'Stolen' from Her
Colson ThayerFri, February 13, 2026 at 11:48 PM UTC
0
'Rehab Addicts' star Nicole Curtis
Nicole Curtis/Instagram
Nicole Curtis is doubling down on her apology after she was caught using a racial slur on camera
A clip of the Rehab Addict host using the n-word emerged online on Feb. 11, the same day as her show was set to return
In a Feb. 12 Instagram post, Curtis claims the video was "stolen" from her and that footage was not captured during production for her HGTV show
Nicole Curtis is offering an apology after a clip of her using a racial slur surfaced online.
A video of the Rehab Addict star, 49, using the n-word was posted by Radar Online on Wednesday, Feb. 11., the same day her HGTV show was set to return to television.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, HGTV said it was “recently made aware of an offensive racial comment made during the filming of Rehab Addict. Not only is language like this hurtful and disappointing to our viewers, partners, and employees - it does not align with the values of HGTV."As a result, the network pulled the season and removed the series from all HGTV platforms. "We remain dedicated to fostering a culture of respect and inclusion across our content and our workplace," the statement added.
Nicole Curtis
Nicole Curtis/Instagram
Initially, Curtis apologized for her use of the slur in a text sent to TMZ, saying, “I want to be clear: the word in question is wrong and not part of my vocabulary and never has been, and I apologize to everyone.”
Nicole Curtis' text with TMZ
Nicole Curtis/Instagram
However, on Thursday, Feb. 13, Curtis further addressed the situation in a post shared to Instagram and made claims about the video's origins.
“There is anger, there is hate, there is pain. I’m here to take it,” she writes in the caption of a photo of a brick wall. “I haven’t been hiding, ignoring, waiting for this to pass. I’ve just been playing this all over and over again and watching the video and having this all out together to say the right thing.”
She adds: “I am sorry. I am filled with remorse and regret, just as much as I was one second after that word was said 4 years ago in 2022.”
But the host continued by claiming that viewers are “getting a limited view as what has been circulating is a clip of MY footage that was stolen then manipulated, edited and sold to s [sic] tabloid to coincide with my return to television only to create this chaos of hate, anger, disappointment."
Advertisement
In a comment on the post, Curtis alleged that the clip was in no way connected to HGTV, saying, “that was all my footage, my cameras, my house — it was not for HGTV, not for a show.”
Rehab Addict, which followed Curtis as she worked on restoring run-down old homes mostly around her hometown of Detroit, first premiered in 2010. The series returned for season 9 in June 2025 before Curtis "made the executive decision" to shelve and recut the remaining episodes. A joint post with HGTV in February officially announced the season would pick up airing Feb. 11.
In Friday's Instagram post, Curtis adds, “I’m not addressing this because I was ‘caught’. I’m here because I am not okay with the fact that I said that.”
She says she’s “been submerged in the African American community” her entire adult life, choosing to live and work “in the inner cities of many major cities.”
“Yes, I hear that word on s [sic] daily basis, people say it all around me,” she says. “I am the white, small blonde in the neighborhood who knows that’s a word that represents evil, pain, torture, trauma when used by someone like me. And yet, it came from me…”
Addressing questions of how “easily” the word came out, Curtis says she doesn’t have an answer for that.“I throw together words, this is documented on 15 years of tv, interviews and posts of these random words,” she says, adding her vocabulary includes “son of s [sic] beehive digger,” “fart digger” and “fart knocker.”
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
PEOPLE has reached out to HGTV and Curtis’ team for comment.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
