Marques Houston has faced a ton of backlash following his comments about single mothers and women his age in the dating pool, but now he’s walking them back.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday (April 19), the former Sister Sister actor apologized for his words being “taken out of context” and clarified that he has the “ultimate respect” for “independent women.”
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“I humbly apologize for the comments I have made, and to those I have offended,” Houston began. “I have a deep respect for all women of any age, race, or background and my comments made in a recent interview was taken out of context.
“I work with many independent women every single day, and have ultimate respect for them and what they are able to accomplish in this world and my choice of words, or how they were taken, does not reflect how I view them. So again, I would like to apologize, and will use this experience to both better myself and the men I’m an example to.”
The apology arrived after the singer was called out by his former Immature groupmate Romeo, who apologized on behalf of Houston’s words and let their fans know that he did not agree.
“It’s unfortunate that in the moment of mourning and grieving my brother, I would have to speak on statements that I do not agree with,” Romeo wrote on his Instagram Story. “But as a member of Immature, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies in regards to the insensitive statements made by my former group member Marques Houston.
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“We were raised by a tribe of strong independent women who faced hardships we will never fully understand. Women today have enough battles to endure including the policing of their bodies, equal pay in the workplaces, and beauty standards.”
He continued: “It is never ok to degrade one group of women in order to praise another. Black women in particular are often on the receiving end of the constant negative stereotypes they fight against daily. As an adolescent group of the 90s, we did not fully understand the concept of colorism in the entertainment industry and never intentionally isolated any particular group of women in the music videos.
“We would be nothing without the loyal fans who have stood by us for three decades, some who happen to be hardworking single mothers. As artists, it has always been important to us that the content of our music and who we represent as men would never disrespect women (especially women of color) and his views do not reflect those of the group.”
Marques responded by seemingly referring to Romeo a “bottom feeder,” but then as previously mentioned, later turned it around with an apology.
“To all my fans, supporters and real truth seekers I can see how the media would love to pin people against people for monetary gain,” Marques initially wrote in response. “but when your at peace, loving life and able to still make a positive impact in the entertainment world for over 2 decades, it’s so easy to move out the way and let the bottom feeders eat. #Protectyourpeace I LOVE YOU ALL!”
Marques Houston’s comments about why he doesn’t date women his age were in response to backlash he’s been getting over his relationship with his wife, Miya, who is 20 years his junior. The topic had been a conversation on social media after he’d done an interview earlier this month about her, saying that while he met Miya when she was only 17, there was nothing romantic between them until she was of age.
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“Me and my wife’s situation is a little different… how we met through mutual friends and everything like that… When I met my wife, she was 17. We had no, really, conversation and no, really, connection until she was of age…” Houston said in the clip.
The singer added: “People don’t understand it. And, of course, I got a lot of backlash for marrying someone that was 19. And, you know, when we did finally start to talk, I was like, ‘This woman is like me’.”
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He continued: “For one, we had a spiritual connection, and I feel like that’s the most important thing… and being able to start being around her… we connected through music and her spirit, her kindness, her heart, reminds me a lot of my mom and we connected on so many different levels.”
