The longtime motivational speaker and life coach Tony Robbins was seen using the N-word in an old video that’s resurfaced, which has gotten the attention of 50 Cent. The clip comes on the heels of Robbins being accused of sexual misconduct and making sexual advances to staff members and followers.
BuzzFeed, which shared the clip, said it’s from the 1980s during one of Robbins’ seminars, and you can clearly see him repeat the n-word, which he said was to help Black people free themselves.
At the time, Robbins was telling the audience about a “militant black” person at a previous event who asked why he only used “white examples” when he spoke to the the crowd.
The life coach was explaining what he told that person in the clip.
“As long as someone calls you a n—-r and gets that kind of response I’ve seen right now, where you’re ready to explode, and what you’ve done is given that person absolute control of you,” Robbins said he told the black audience member. “You have no control in your life. You are still a slave.”
Robbins then said the racial slur in a song that he sang and told the crowd to follow along.
“Just do what I do just for a minute if you really want to be free and if you want to have some fun,” he said. “I’m a n—-r, you’re a n—-r, be a n—-r too.”
50 responded to the clip on Friday and said he was confused about what Robbins was trying to accomplish.
“🤨@tonyrobbins what the f–k kinda point were you trying to prove. 😠I know @oprah is not cool with this sh-t,” he wrote on Instagram.
Robbins and Oprah Winfrey have worked together extensively over the years.
After 50’s post, a lot of 50’s followers said they’d boycott Robbins and that he should be canceled. Robbins’ lawyer, meanwhile, said the video was from a presentation to a Black audience and has been taken out of context, and his client is far from being a racist.
“The presentation was positive and was accepted in the context in which it was conducted: a passionate discussion about racism and how to rise above it,” a letter read. “Any suggestion that Mr. Robbins is somehow racist or insensitive to the African-American community is absurd and false. Indeed, one of Mr. Robbins’ event partners for 25-plus years is an African-American.”
A spokesperson for BuzzFeed eventually responded, particularly about the clip being taken out of context.
“We would be eager to learn, however, about a context in which Mr. Robbins using the N-word is acceptable,” the spokesperson replied.
