J Balvin apologises following "Perra" video controversy

The "Perra" video was originally released last month, and after being removed from YouTube over a week ago following criticism for portraying Black actors as dogs and having two women on leashes, J Balvin has shared an apology.

"Perra", which features Dominican rapper Tokischa, also featured a scene showing Tokischa performing a verse from inside a doghouse.

The apology, shared via J Balvin's Instagram, saw him say, "I want to say sorry to whomever felt offended, especially to the black community."

"That's not who I am," he continued. "I'm about tolerance, love and inclusivity."

He added, "I also like to support new artists, in this case Tokischa, a woman who supports her people, her community and also empowers women."

.@JBALVIN apologizes for the video of "Perra" with #Tokischa. “My message has always been tolerance, love and integration,” he adds. pic.twitter.com/bXOzXv9MVf

— billboard latin (@billboardlatin) October 24, 2021

BBC reports that the video was criticised by Colombia's vice president and chancellor Marta Lucía Ramírez, who called it "sexist, racist, chauvinist and misogynistic", and J Balvin's mum also reportedly commented on the situation, saying "When I found out, I called him [and asked], "Where is the Josésito that I know?""

When speaking to Rolling Stone, Tokischa said of the video, "It was very conceptual. If you, as a creative, have a song that’s talking about dogs, you’re going to create that world. I understand the interpretation people had and I’m truly sorry that people felt offended. But at the same time, art is expression. It’s creating a world."

The video director Raymi Paulus said of the visual, "Our creative process never aimed to promote racism or misogyny. The Dominican Republic is a country where most of the population is Black and our Blackness is predominant in underground scenes, where the filming took place, and which was the subject of the video’s inspiration. "Perra" was a video filmed in the neighborhood, with people from the neighborhood, and the use of people of color in "Perra" was nothing more than the participation of our people in it."