J Balvín on Sunday apologized to those who were offended by the video for “Perra,” which was quietly removed from YouTube a week ago.
“I want to say sorry to whomever felt offended, especially to the Black community," Balvín said in an Instagram Story on Sunday. “That’s not who I am. I'm about tolerance, love and inclusivity.
The video, directed by Raymi Paulus, was slammed as misogynist and racist when it premiered last month. It depicts several Black people as ravenous dogs and intercuts shots of real dogs. In one scene, Balvín holds leashes attached to two Black women who are on their hands and knees.
The track (“Perra” is the Spanish word for a female dog) is a collaboration with Dominican rapper Tokischa, who appears in the video inside a doghouse and being fed a bowl of cereal with a fried chicken leg.
“I also like to support new artists," Balvín said, "in this case Tokischa, a woman who supports her people, her community and also empowers women.”
The Colombian star said he removed the video from his YouTube channel last week “as a form of respect” and only made a statement now because “the criticism continued.”
In an open letter dated Oct. 11, Colombian Vice President Marta Lucia Ramírez and Presidential Counselor for Women’s Equality Gheidy Gallo Santos slammed the video for its “direct and openly sexist, racist and misogynistic expressions that violate the rights of women, comparing them to an animal that must be dominated and mistreated.”