*“Married to Medicine” star Dr. Jackie Walters has apologized after facing backlash over comments she made about Black women in 2020.
Walters was speaking to co-star Dr. Heavenly Kimes on the Heaven Help Us podcast when she said Black women cry wolf during pregnancy, Deadline reports.
“Sometimes as African-American women, we’re a bit more dramatic, and that you go to the doctor, and you complain, and you complain, and you complain, and you’re not taken seriously because you cried wolf the entire pregnancy,” Walters said on the podcast.
“As African-American women, we want to also make sure you’re being serious with your doctor and not playing the game,” she continued. “Because then, we see you 25 times in the pregnancy, it’s hard to believe that there’s a true problem when there’s a true problem.”
TV Insider reports that the old interview went viral recently after an episode of Bravo’s “Married to Medicine” showed Walters speaking about material mortality rates among Black women during a Zoom call with Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Walters apologized for her controversial comments on Instagram, saying in a video that she is “brokenhearted” over her past remarks.
“First and most importantly, to Black women and mothers, including your friends, families, and the medical community who cares for you: Because my words left you hurt and feeling unsupported, I want you to know I hear you, I see you, I believe you, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” she says in the clip.
“I am brokenhearted over this. The guilt and reality that I have hurt and offended people, especially Black women and some of my own patients, pains me to my core,” Walters said.
“If I could say it all over again, here’s how I’d say it: When experiencing a health matter, keep a log of your concerns and symptoms so that you can provide them accurately to your physician,” she states in the clip. “Have a buddy system, someone who can advocate for you when you’re with a physician, especially when pregnant. Know that a second and third opinion is not just sometimes warranted but necessary.”
Watch her complete statement in the Instagram clip above.
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