It's been 11 years since Rondy Rousey enraged the internet with comments about the tragic shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn — but she is finally issuing an apology.
The former UFC and WWE champion joined a Reddit page Tuesday to take part in an "Ask Me Anything" session. Her involvement in the back-and-forth was to promote the Kickstarter page for her first graphic novel, titled "EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED."
However, the focus of the inquiries were not about her illustrious UFC career, where she won the first women's bantamweight belt and retained her title for three years, or her tenure in the WWE, where she was the Raw Women's Champion and SmackDown Women's Champion.
Instead, all the fans wanted to do was pepper her with questions about her previous comments about the Sandy Hook mass shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 20 students and six adults. In response, Rousey later issued an apology.
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Here is more to know about Rousey's apology and her previous Sandy Hook comments.
Ronda Rousey Sandy Hook apology, explained
Rousey issued an apology for her previous comments on a lengthy statement posted to X, formerly Twitter late Thursday night, Rousey
"I can't say how many times I've redrafted this apology over the last 11 years," Rousey said. "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. "
Rousey went on to explain that she "didn't even believe it," however she was "so horrified at the truth" that she was "grasping for an alternative fiction to cling to instead." While she took down her post, she realized that the "damage was done.
"By some miracle it seemingly slipped under the media's radar, 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—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.
"So I convinced myself that apologizing would just reopen the wound for no other reason than me selfishly trying to make myself feel better, that I would hurt those suffering even more and possibly lead more people down the black hole of conspiracy bulls— by it being brought up again just so I could try to shake the label of being a 'Sandy Hook truther'.
"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 said she recognizes that the apology came well after her initial posting over a decade ago, but that she "regretted it every day" of her life since.
"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," Rousey said. "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."
She ended her statement by calling out those that have "fallen down the black hole of bulls—," slamming them for thinking they are "edgy" and that all they are doing is "hurting others and [themselves]."
What did Ronda Rousey say about Sandy Hook?
Rousey received plenty of backlash in January 2013 after reposting a conspiracy theory video about the events that took place on Dec. 12, 2012 in Sandy Hook.
"Extremely interesting, and must-watch," Rousey commented at the time, while posting the link to the clip by ThinkOutsideTheTV, which has since been deleted from YouTube.
In a follow-up post, the combat sports legend said she thought that "asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you're told."
After she continued to receive criticism from her comments, Rousey followed up the next day, stating that she "never meant to insult or hurt anyone, sorry if anyone was offended."
Outside of the multiple messages on X, formerly Twitter, Rousey never issued a public statement on the matter until over a decade later.