Meghan Trainor Apologizes After Negative Comments About Teachers
Tranior went off on the public school system and teachers.
Singer Meghan Trainor is attempting damage control after getting a little too honest during a recent episode of her podcast, Workin' On It. The “All About That Bass” singer posted a video apologizing for her “careless” comments about teachers while talking about homeschooling her kid.
Trainor, 29, explained that context was missed during the podcast segment when she passionately dismissed teachers while speaking about the public school system. Trainor said was “fired up” about how sending your kid to school in America is a scary thing these days.
The singer — who shares son Riley, 2, with husband Daryl Sabara, and is expecting another child this year — talked about her plans to homeschool her children in the midst of all the gun violence in schools. Meghan was referring to the mass shootings in America’s schools, including the most recent nationally-covered incident at The Covenant School in Nashville, in which a 28-year-old woman opened fire in the primary school and killed three teachers and three students.
“We’re homeschooling our kids,” she said during the episode while speaking with podcast guest and Youtube star, Trisha Paytas. “Everyone on TikTok is like, ‘This is what it’s like having kids in America. I have a bulletproof backpack.’ I was like, uh-uh, f*ck all that.’”
Paytas agreed with Trainor’s remarks, adding that she had worried about putting her daughter — Malibu — in school with the possibility of bullies and teachers, inferring that she was bullied by teachers.
Trainor cut her off and remarked, “F*ck teachers, dude.”
While it’s legit that some teachers can be bullies or cause trauma in kids, what did the teachers —some who quite literally put their life on the line for their students — do to you, Meghan?
According to her apology video, some teacher did personally hurt her.
“Teachers of TikTok and teachers of the world, I recently said ‘F teachers’ on the podcast and it’s not how I feel," the pregnant singer said in the TikTok video. “I was fired up because we were talking about how sending your kid to school here in America is so horrific and what all of us have to go through but especially teachers is not normal and not okay.”
She explains that listeners of the podcast did not have some of the context that Trainor had on Paytas’ history of hurt with unkind teachers along with Trainor’s history as well.
“So, in that moment, I got angry and said, ‘F teachers, F those specific human beings back in the day,’ but I did not mean that to all teachers,” she continued.
“I love teachers. I fight for teachers. I think they have the hardest job and they're the most underpaid. They're the most unappreciated when they literally raise all of us. They are the most unappreciated when they literally raise all of us. I don’t want to make excuses, I just want to [say] I am so sorry,” she backtracked, noting that she realizes that her words have have a consequence.
Trainor tagged TikTok user @GalsGotMoxie in her caption of the apology video, thanking her for bringing her misguided comments to light.
In @GalsGotMoxie’s video, she truly lives up to her username, calling out Trainor for being “out of touch” and explaining how much words matter using her own classroom tactics. “I've seen this sign in a lot of different schools, and it's meant to remind kids to kind of stop and think — T.H.I.N.K. — before they speak,” the teacher of seven years begins.
“It tells them to ask themselves, “Is what you're about to say thoughtful? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? And is it kind?”
She goes on to defend teachers, remarking how much they all adapted and strained and survived through teaching during a pandemic, “setting aside their own personal, mental and physical health” for the sake of their students’ happiness and learning.
She then dives into Meghan’s comments about her desire to homeschool her children due to gun violence in schools. “And now Megan's right,” she says. “Parents do send their kids school with bulletproof backpacks. And who do you think is expected to use their body as a shield during the moments when those backpacks are necessary?”
Strong point.
She calls out the “Made You Look” singer for being able to use her ‘money and resources to try to avoid’ all the things that every parent who is not as privileged she is has to face when sending their kid to school.
While @galsgotmoxie has since publicly said she respects Trainor’s apology and thanked for her reflecting on her shocking words, others have not been so forgiving. The singer’s podcast YouTube channel is flooded with comments, expressing how hurt they are by Trainor’s blanket statement about teachers.
One user wrote, “She needs to make a statement on her podcast and delete that episode permanently. She won’t though because at the end of the day it’s all about the 💰”
Another came to Trainor’s defense and said, “There are bad teachers out there and Meghan was referring to them. In a heated moment, made a general statement. She’s pregnant give her some grace!”
Whatever you think about Trainor and her apology, it’s clear that teachers should be just about the last people to blame for the issues in America’s school systems.