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Renowned soca DJ, DJ Puffy came under fire this week after a video of him addressing a dancing attendee of the UK's Notting Hill Carnival went viral across social media.
The clip saw DJ Puffy, from a soca truck, addressing the woman who was dancing atop a light post to "get down", finishing the statement with a comment describing her body, after which the woman, looking visibly affected by the statement, got down.
Puffy has since posted a statement apologising for his words following public outrage, saying: "I want to address what I said at Notting Hill Carnival.
I saw a woman climbing and dancing on a light post and was concerned that she could be injured. Instead of simply asking her to come down, I made an unnecessary and humiliating comment about her over the microphone, in front of a large crowd. It was disrespectful, and it was wrong... To the woman I addressed: I am sorry. You did not deserve to be spoken about that way or to have a moment of enjoyment turned into public humiliation. I had the microphone, I had the platform, and I used both to single you out. I take full responsibility for that... Our women already experience an unfair level of scrutiny, commentary and disrespect about their bodies. Regardless of my intention in that moment, my words contributed to that harm, and I take responsibility for it. I am sorry to her, to the Carnival community, and to everyone who expects better from me. I cannot undo what I said, but I can take responsibility for it and learn from it."
Comments on the post saw mixed reactions, with viewers saying, "The body shaming was UNNECESSARY You wanted a moment, you got the moment..yuh mean and that’s okay, maybe that’s just you as a person. Unfortunately, she has to live with that video being on the internet for however long and an apology would never change that.. think before you speak next time yeah?", "This is an apology with accountability", "Forgiveness is handed to certain people so easily and that’s crazy to me,an apology will never fix what that girl has to go through from that moment on" and "Cool. We love an apology. But now we want her on your truck. ..#dosomethingdifferent stop these long drawn out apologies and something actionable!"