South African TikTok sensation Chane Grobler has broken her silence following controversial voice notes leaked two weeks ago.
In a statement issued to IOL Entertainment, the 19-year-old social media star said her "private voice notes have been edited and leaked, but without the context in which they were sent."
Furthermore, Grobler said that she's "truly sorry" for her actions and that she has taken time off "social media to educate myself and reflect".
She said that it was her "duty to ensure that my platform respects and promotes all races".
Grobler's statement comes after several TikTokers, including Katlego Tlhapuletsa, posted a six-part video series where she shared her experience with the Cosmopolitan SA cover star along with voice notes where Grobler is heard making racist and transphobic comments.
In the six-part video series on the popular video video-sharing social media app, Tlhapuletsa shared how Grobler was dating a transgender man, who she also dated and is friends with two years ago, and in the voice notes Grobler is heard using his dead name and misgendering him.
Another TikToker Victoria Kayser also posted a voice note video where Grobler complains about not being invited to a Universal Music TikTok event claiming that it's because she's white.
Grobler goes on to name other white TikTokers who were there as she says this occurred because "they act like all the black people"; with a voice in the background saying "want hulle meng met swart mense" which translates to "because they mix with black people".
Grobler then says that she's not a racist for making these comments.
In a statement issued to IOL Entertainment, Grobler says that while she can't make excuses for the language she used in the voice notes she was "speaking from a place of hurt and because English isn’t my 1st language, I wasn’t able to communicate my feelings in a sensitive manner".
She said she would continue to educate herself about the "transgender community to ensure that I handle such matters tactfully and respectfully in the future".
Grobler goes on to explain that the voice note snippets were from a 30-minute long voice note which she sent to a "confidential anti-bullying support group" who reached out to her after they found out how according to her she was being "aggressively bullied".
She goes to refer to the transgender man as "Friend A" and said that due to him being 9 years older than her that "his advances and his age, which is why I wasn’t comfortable pursuing a romantic relationship".
Grobler reiterated that the voice notes were edited and "weren’t released with the necessary context".
She ends the statement by stating that she's taken "social responsibility to learn and grow, so that I do not repeat these mistakes" and that she's "truly sorry for the ways in which I have spoken and I am working to do better from this point onwards."
Mentioning that she is busy "driving a social responsibility campaign to raise awareness and funds for a local charity".
Grobler also released a public apology on her TikTok and Instagram pages.