#7deLaan responds to interracial kiss backlash: We stand by our diverse story lines

Picture: Facebook/7de Laan

Picture: Facebook/7de Laan

Published Jan 25, 2019

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The popular Afrikaans soapie, "7de Laan" has issued an official statement following the social media backlash it faced after two of its characters shared an interracial kiss.

Angry fans of the SABC2 show reportedly turned on the white actress, who kisses her black co-star in the 15 January episode, and took to social media to complain about the scene.

Actress Carina Nel, who plays the character Alexa in the Afrikaans soapie, reportedly received hate mail after kissing actor Nicholas Nkuna, whose character, Fikani, had been her love interest for some months

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'7de Laan' first responded to the criticism by encouraging fans to share their own "Falexa" snaps. "Who are the Falexa's of the world? Share your relationship similarities and a photo and we'll reshare it to proudly celebrate the beauty of love..." they wrote on their Facebook page last Friday, which was followed by a more official statement on Tuesday.

Taking to their social media accounts, the soapie said while they "...respect our viewers’ right to voice their opinion, '7de Laan' will not tolerate hate speech, racism ... We stand by our diverse storylines that tell stories of a real South Africa in which we all strive to live harmoniously..." 

Read the full statement below.

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