Maya Jama apologises for controversial ‘dark skin b******’ tweet as she reveals she was bullied for African heritage: ‘I was definitely an ignorant person’

Maya Jama has apologised for an offensive tweet in which she referenced “back skin b******’, saying that she had been an “ignorant person.”

Addressing the controversy for the first time, the TV and radio presenter said that she had simply been trying to “make people laugh” when she posted the tweet back in 2012, and hadn’t realised the implications.

It read: “Dark skin b***** shaving their head expecting to look like Amber Rose, when really they end up looking like Micheal Jordan. Looooooooool.”

Jama, 23, who is in a relationship with grime star Stormzy, said that she had experienced bullying at school because of her mixed Swedish and Somali heritage and understands what it’s like to be ridiculed for the colour of your skin.

“I was definitely an ignorant person that was trying to make people laugh and not understanding the seriousness of a joke like that,' she told the Receipts Podcast.

“I have wanted to speak about this as a human and not just some notes on Twitter or some statement or apology.

“I have wanted to have my voice on something where I can speak because where something like this does happen, if you release something like that, people will just pick it apart either way. But if you get a chance to speak as a person and you can hear where I came from.”

Talking about the bullying she experienced growing up, she said: “There were these boys and they were so horrible to me when they found out that I was Somali.

“When they asked me where I'm from I used to be like 'yeah I'm Spanish and Jamaican' or something like that.

“And just made a whole completely new background because I didn't want people to judge me from where I was from.

She added: “So I get it. It’s not the same thing, but I understand the feeling of people being rude and taking the p*** out of where you are from, or your race or skin colour. When it’s something you can’t change.”