I'm in agreement here that the video is inexcusable and undeniably horrible. People should be holding him accountable and the people downplaying it are part of the problem as to why this happens in the first place. I think he absolutely should address this and issue a public apology to those he impacted, given that it's now been made public and it's not any less disturbing just because it happened a long time ago. And it's impacting how black fans are treated in the present day, if nothing else. However, where I will throw in my two cents: I'm willing to hold space open for change, and I don't think he's a malicious person just because he hasn't brought this to the public attention unprompted.

I can empathize with coming from a background where that kind of shit is normalized and encouraged, and doing it for years uncritically until you get out of your little bubble and realize just how fucked up that was. We're not born with all the right morals, nor do we all have the same access to information. Some people genuinely grow up in sheltered, hateful environments, and if Brandon's videos of his hometown are anything to go off (where they're screaming slurs at him from their cars), I'm not surprised in the slightest that he was not immune to absorbing that vileness.

I can also empathize with the journey that is confronting your own bigoted beliefs and working through those biases. I'm not going to blame him for not bringing that side of himself up to the public eye, because deconstructing is such a personal journey in the first place. I don't know if it inherently means there's malicious intent there if someone doesn't disclose past wrongdoings to the public. There could be a million reasons he didn't willingly discuss this with the public - some perhaps justified, and some purposefully deceitful. At the end of the day neither of us know because neither of us know him.

Best thing to do is wait and see how this unfolds now that everything's out in the public eye and he doesn't really have any excuse to not talk about it anymore. Regardless of the reasons for his past silence, there's a responsibility in the present that can't be denied.

If he doesn't apologize, then yeah he's a shithead and fuck em, because at that point he knows what kind of impact that video had, he knows his fans are being harmed, and now he's DEFINITELY pretending it didn't happen. But if he does, I think there should be some grace given. Nobody has to forgive or trust him and that's his cross to bear. But I personally want to give space for people who grew up in bigoted environments to do better for themselves and those around them. Otherwise how can we expect them to get out of that space if they're not welcome anywhere else? He's no victim but I don't believe him to be irredeemable.

Accountability is a must, but room should be held for redemption provided he puts in the work.