Ronda Rousey Apologizes Years After Sharing Conspiracy Theory Video
Ronda Rousey has finally come clean about an incident from more than a decade ago in which she shared an online conspiracy theory video about the Sandy Hook school shooting tragedy. And it sounds like the former WWE star had been wanting to get the apology off of her chest for a very long time.
In January 2013, about a month following the Dec. 14, 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT that left 20 children and six adults dead, Rousey shared the video on Twitter that she described as "extremely interesting" and a "must-watch." After getting hit with immediate backlash, she deleted the video and followed up with a second tweet, claiming that "asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you're told."
The following day, Rousey issued an actual apology, stating that she never meant to insult or hurt anyone, that was she sorry if anyone was offended, and that was "not her intention in the least." And until now, those have been the last words she's said on the subject. The 37-year-old is currently expecting her second child with former UFC fighter Travis Browne, though it's unclear whether that inspired her decision in any way to come forward now.
"I can’t say how many times I’ve redrafted this apology over the last 11 years," Rousey wrote in a note posted to social media on Friday. "How many times I’ve convinced myself it wasn’t the right time or that I’d be causing even more damage by giving it. But 11 years ago I made the single most regrettable decision of my life. I watched a Sandy Hook conspiracy video and reposted it on Twitter. I didn’t even believe it, but was so horrified at the truth that I was grasping for an alternative fiction to cling to instead. I quickly realized my mistake and took it down, but the damage was done."
Though it was sparsely reported at the time, Rousey noted that "by some miracle," her indiscretion slipped under the radar of the mainstream media.
"I was never asked about it so I never spoke of it again, afraid that calling attention to it would have the opposite of the intended effect," she explained. "It could increase the views of those conspiracy videos, and selfishly, inform even more people I was ignorant, self absorbed, and tone deaf enough to share one in the first place."
Rousey continued, noting that she had drafted an apology to include in her last memoir but conceded to remove it at the behest of her publisher, who said that it would do more harm than good. Ultimately, she says she agreed, not because of the potential personal fallout, but because didn't want to cause more suffering to the families of the victims and possible lead anyone else down that path.
"But honestly I deserve to be hated, labeled, detested, resented and worse for it. I deserve to lose out on every opportunity, I should have been canceled, I would have deserved it. I still do," Rousey admitted. "I apologize that this came 11 years too late, but to those affected by the Sandy Hook massacre, from the bottom of my heart and depth of my soul I am so so sorry for the hurt I caused. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’ve endured and words cannot describe how thoroughly remorseful and ashamed I am of myself for contributing to it. I’ve regretted it every day of my life since and will continue to do so until the day I die."
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) August 23, 2024
Rousey added that for anyone else who has fallen down the "black hole of bulls--t," that it doesn't make you edgy or an independent thinker, and that doing due diligence doesn't involve entertaining conspiracy theories. "Regardless of how many bridges you've burned, stop digging yourself a deeper hole, don't get wrapped up in the sunk cost fallacy, no matter how long you've gone down the wrong road, you should still turn back," she concluded.
The Sandy Hook school shooting has been the subject of myriad conspiracy theories, including false claims that the tragedy was orchestrated by the government as a means to promote stricter gun control laws, or even that it had never occurred at all. Internet personality Alex Jones (not the producer of the video Rousey shared) faced severe financial consequences for his false claims about the shooting.
Though Rousey clearly can't change the past, taking accountability is at least an admirable first step. And with any hope, her words will indeed reach someone else who needs to hear them.