The former Bachelorettes had a lengthy phone conversation over the weekend, a source tells ET.
Rachel Lindsay's passionate response to Hannah Brown's apology for using the N-word came in part from disappointment over Brown "backing out" of the way Lindsay had hoped she would address the controversy, a source tells ET.
As Lindsay revealed on Instagram Live on Sunday, she had contacted Brown following the 25-year-old's use of the N-word on the platform the day prior. According to ET's source, the pair had a lengthy phone conversation, and agreed what the best approach would be for how Brown should respond. Then, at the last minute, the source says, Brown backed out.
Lindsay wanted a live conversation with Brown to happen to create an open dialogue and get into the gravity of using that word, the source says. Lindsay was ready to support her in that conversation and thought it could be an opportunity for change.
According to the source, Lindsay now feels that because Brown didn't speak out on camera, at this point she's allowing her followers to be her voice.
A second source tells ET that when the reality stars spoke, they talked about the possibility of Brown joining Lindsay live to discuss her mistake, but it was never set in stone. "Hannah told her she was open with doing the Live but felt it was important to first address and apologize to her fans," the source says. "Hannah is devastated and absolutely mortified. This is not who she is."
Brown and Lindsay haven't spoken again since their initial conversation. "Hannah was thankful to Rachel for their first conversation and it got very emotional," the source shares. "Hannah has been talking to her pastor and just trying to listen, learn and take it all in right now. She wants to be able to use this as a learning experience. She always wants to teach her own followers to know she should have known better and that she shouldn't have done it in the first place. She is just taking it all in right now."
Brown -- who used the N-word while singing DaBaby's "Rockstar" on her Instagram Live on Saturday -- apologized in a short written statement on her Instagram Story on Sunday afternoon.
"I owe you all a major apology. There is no excuse and I will not justify what I said. I have read your messages and seen the hurt I have caused. I own it all. I am terribly sorry and know that whether in public or private, this language is unacceptable. I promise to do better," she wrote. Brown has not been active on social media since.
Lindsay criticized Brown's statement on her Instagram Live hours later.
"It's easy to make a statement. It's easy to hide behind words, but when you're bold enough to say the N-word on camera, on your platform... then you need be bold enough to use your face on camera and apologize in the same way you said the word," the attorney shared, adding she was "personally hurt and offended that I gave somebody the opportunity to do that, and it wasn't done."
"Non-black people should not feel OK saying that word," Lindsay said. The 35-year-old added that she was "upset" and "saddened" that she was taking to Instagram Live herself to address what Brown had done: "[This] should be the person who said it using their platform."
"If you're going to praise someone for being open and sincere, for being honest and so up front, and bold and speaking out, then you have to hold them accountable when they don't do it over a controversial situation when it's controversy that they caused," Lindsay said.
See more on Brown in the video below.
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