Outer Banks star Chase Stokes has been generating all kinds of buzz recently, but not entirely due to his role in the Netflix series. A number of social media posts from Stokes included derogatory terms, and they resurfaced online after Outer Banks released. Those posts have since been deleted from Twitter, but the plot still thickened when Stokes apologized for the comments, then seemingly blamed hackers.
Chase Stokes' apology itself has also been deleted from Twitter, but the content was saved from before the post was taken down. Stokes tweeted "I am flawed, and I am sorry" and attached a screenshot of a longer message, saying this:
Yes. I will address this. I was not hiding. I consulted in one of my closest friends just as anybody else would. I have posted insensitive tweets. My Facebook has been hacked countless times. The picture isn't even of me or anybody I know. Again, I am incredibly sorry. I really am. I hope you guys see what i am currently doing and how I am continuing to do the right thing by being respectful in today's climate. This does not excuse my words, nor am I excusing myself. I will continue to work towards using my platform in the same capacity I have been and doing/bringing light into the world.
While Chase Stokes did mention having a social media account hacked in his Twitter apology, he didn't blame his comments on a hacker posting the "insensitive tweets." He also didn't mince words, explicitly saying that he is "incredibly sorry" and that an apology doesn't excuse what he said. If Stokes left the situation at this apology and didn't delete it, that could have been the end of the story.
Instead, Chase Stokes posted two tweets on his page (that had been purged of all his previous posts, including the apology) seemingly crediting the apology to hackers. First, he made a claim about his Twitter password:
Just a few hours after the apology went up on his Twitter page, Chase Stokes stated that he was "just getting back" on Twitter and he was "figuring things out." It wasn't 100% clear what he was saying, but he elaborated just one minute later, posting this:
Chase Stokes hasn't tweeted since he stated that somebody got access to his account, so he hasn't cleared up what exactly he meant by these posts. It certainly seems like he deleted the apology, and then tweeted about difficulties with his account to blame hackers for it.
That said, giving hackers credit for the apology and not making a separate one doesn't strike me as a great way to handle the controversy. There's no way to confirm one way or the other if Chase Stokes really was hacked or if something else is going on, but some clarity from Stokes would definitely be welcome. He's not really helping his own case here!
While he may not be 100% successful at handling his social media controversy at this point, Outer Banks seemingly hasn't suffered. More than a month after the series made its Netflix debut on April 15, Outer Banks is holding the #7 spot on Netflix's Top 10 in the U.S. Although the show hasn't been renewed for Season 2 just yet, the creator has plans for what could happen next.
If you're interested in checking out the show that shot Chase Stokes into the limelight in 2020, you can find all ten episodes of Outer Banks streaming on Netflix now.
