Expecting the Unexpected: After 11 Years, Ronda Rousey Apologizes for ‘Sandy Hook’ Remarks (and We Commend Her)
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Less than a week ago, while covering Ronda Rousey’s disastrous Reddit AMA, I wrote this:
Most people, in general, are willing to forgive (if not completely forget). We’ve all said dumb things. We’ve all done dumb things. I mean, most of us haven’t denied the senseless and tragic murder of 20 children, but still. If Ronda Rousey were to ever say something like, “Whoa, yeah. That was really dumb. I was misinformed. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry,” the majority of the public would probably forgive her.
I highly, highly doubt that Ronda Rousey read my tiny, humble, snarky article. But she did take its advice, even unknowingly.
On Thursday evening, Rousey finally, finally addressed her comments from 11 years ago, regarding the Sandy Hook shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children, and six adults.
From that same article (because even I’m getting tired of writing the same fucking story):
On Dec. 14, 2012, a tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, reportedly left six staff members and 20 children dead. It was one of the most tragic school shootings in the history of the country.
For some reason, however, instead of simply mourning the tragedy and offering condolences or, better yet, simply saying nothing at all, certain people like Alex Jones and Ronda Rousey opted to theorize about the events that took place that day at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
In a since-deleted tweet, Rousey shared a 30 minute video that highlighted a conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook massacre which, again, left 20 children and six adults dead, was staged.
“Extremely Interesting,” Rousey tweeted about the video. “Must-watch.”
Naturally, when people replied, they were not fans. When confronted with her stance, she doubled-down and said that “asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you’re told.”
Naturally, people were upset about her tweet, and about her reaction.
And they stayed upset. For 11 years.
For more than a decade, Rousey tried to ignore and move past the comments. Maybe personally, she regretted them. But publicly, she chose not to talk about it, for better or worse.
In mainstream interviews, it rarely came up. But on various social media platforms (and snarky pro wrestling websites), the whole situation was continually connected to her. It was part of the headlines. Part of the comments. Part of Ronda Rousey’s story, whether she wanted it to be or not.
Finally, it all came to the forefront when Rousey attempted to hold an Ask Me Anything campaign on the Reddit Squared Circle forum to promote her graphic novel
It did not go well. She opened the AMA and was flooded with comments and questions about Sandy Hook.
And so on. Rousey ended up closing the AMA without answering a single question. It was embarrassing — for her, for fans, probably for her marketing team and co-creator of the graphic novel.
But then, something happened. We’re not sure what it was. We don’t know if it was the embarrassment of the failed AMA, the guilt as she read comment after comment, or the 10+ years of shame that may or may not have built up inside of her heart after the Sandy Hook comments. But finally, on Thursday, Ronda Rousey got on social media and, in an incredibly unexpected move…she apologized.
And it seems like she meant it.
Normally, when celebrities apologize for something, especially if they’ve just been cancelled because of that thing, they offer a shallow “Sorry if I offended anybody (but mostly I’m sorry I got caught) type of apology. We’re looking at you, Hogan.
But Ronda Rousey actually took accountability for what she said, just like we hoped she would. We’ve all said and done things, especially ten years ago, that we’re not proud of. Hopefully we learn, grow, and get better. If we don’t, that’s a problem. But judging from this apology, it seems like Rousey has, indeed, grown. And we commend her for it.
Whether Rousey actually meant this apology is not up for us to decide. Her future comments and actions will decide that. But this was the first step, and it was a big one.
Ronda Rousey is a trailblazer. She broke the mold when it came to women MMA fighters. She became a World Champion in WWE. She was, and is, an example to hundreds of thousands of little girls who have been told they can’t do something because they’re a girl. But she’s also an example, to all of us who have said something stupid and regretted it. She took accountability. She explained her thought process. She asked for forgiveness — not from us, the snarky, vindictive, eager-to-get-a-headline fans (of which I absolutely include myself) — but from the people who actually deserved the apology: the parents and loved ones of the children killed at Sandy Hook.
That apology, those words from Ronda Rousey, earned her more respect from people than any KO or tap out would. With that apology, she proved that people can grow, people can learn from mistakes, people can accept accountability. More than anything, she taught us that “no matter how long [we’ve] gone down the wrong road, [we can] still turn back.”
She taught us to expect the unexpected. And that’s all we ever wanted from her.
Follow Nick on Twitter/X at @WesternRebel
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