KTLA released an apology Friday morning after its official X account tweeted a one-word tweet containing the N-word due to a purported “technical error.”
The tweet was quickly spotted the morning of April 11 by users online, who screenshotted and began sharing it before KTLA could delete it. Afterward, the local Los Angeles news station issued an apology on X, writing, “KTLA experienced a technical error while adding language filters to our social media accounts, resulting in an offensive word being accidentally shared. We are appalled and apologize that this occurred.”
KTLA experienced a technical error while adding language filters to our social media accounts, resulting in an offensive word being accidentally shared. We are appalled and apologize that this occurred.
— KTLA (@KTLA) April 11, 2025
X gives its users the ability to mute certain words on its platform — effectively blocking them from seeing any tweets that include said words. KTLA’s apology tweet suggests that it accidentally tweeted out the N-word when whoever was running its social media account at the time intended to instead add it to the profile’s list of filtered words.
That explanation has not stopped X users from criticizing both the station’s mistake and its apology for it. “Aside from this obviously not being true —why would a news outlet need language filters on social media accounts?,” one X user tweeted, while another simply predicted, “Someone’s getting fired today.”
A different user cast doubt on KTLA’s explanation, writing, “That’s your excuse? Someone typed the word and hit send, that’s not an error.” Another just shared their outrage over the deleted tweet, remarking, “KKKTLA just took their white hood off.”
@hearinladotcom, meanwhile, tweeted in response to the event, “If KTLA doesn’t have a person of color running its social media. Today would be a good day to declare it will hire one ASAP.”
Later Friday in a statement to TheWrap, a spokesperson for KTLA shared the following:
“Earlier today, as KTLA was taking steps to strengthen the language filters on its X account (formerly Twitter), a technical issue resulted in an offensive and prohibited word being accidentally published to the account. We immediately deleted the post and replaced it with an explanation and an apology. KTLA is investigating the exact cause of this incident, and we deeply regret what happened. We again apologize to KTLA’s audience and the greater Los Angeles community.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect KTLA’s statement to TheWrap.
