‘GENUINE REMORSE’

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Apologizes for Participating in Blackface Skit in College

In an interview with an Auburn radio station, Ivey's then-fiance recalled Ivey wearing “black paint all over her face” while acting in a skit called “Cigar Butts.”

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey reportedly reached out to state legislators and apologized for participating in a racist skit while she was a student at Auburn University, AL.com reported Thursday.

According to a statement from Ivey, a taped Auburn student radio station interview of her and her then-fiance Ben LaRavia recently emerged. In the audio, LaRavia recalled that Ivey was wearing “blue coveralls” and had “black paint all over her face” while they were both acting out a skit called “Cigar Butts” at a Baptist Student Union party. LaRavia then said the skit required “physical acting,” like “crawling around on the floor looking for cigar butts.”

In her statement to lawmakers, Ivey said she neither recalled the interview happening nor her participation in the skit. “Even though Ben is the one on tape remembering the skit—and I still don’t recall ever dressing up in overalls or in blackface—I will not deny what is the obvious,” the Republican governor wrote. “As such, I fully acknowledge—with genuine remorse—my participation in a skit like that back when I was a senior in college.” She then said the interview was not representative of who she was in the present and “not what [her] Administration represents all these years later.” Democratic state Reps. John Rogers and Juandalynn Givan told AL.com that Ivey should “step down” and “resign,” respectively.