Priyanka Chopra’s co-host Julianne Hough reacts to The Activist furore, says it missed the mark

Julianne Hough, who's one of the three hosts of the recently announced controversial reality competition series, 'The Activist', has responded to the backlash the show has faced since its announcement.

The show's also set to see Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Usher take on hosting duties.

In 'The Activist', these three celebrities will be joining a team of six activists each who will be assigned various issues like health, education and environment. There will be challenges for them to take on and the groups will be fighting each other for maximum online engagement.

Reports confirm, there will be musical performances too and the participants may get an opportunity to attend the G-20 Summit in Rome, Italy, where they will be given a chance to secure funding for their respective causes.

The show came has been vehemently criticized for the competition aspect of it, among others.

Now, in a lengthy Instagram post, Julianne has addressed the controversy revolving around the show. "After the press release announcing The Activist, I heard you say that the show was performative, promoted pseudo-activism over real activism, felt tone-deaf, like Black Mirror, The Hunger Games, and that the hosts weren’t qualified to assess activism because we are celebrities and not activists," she wrote.

"I heard you say that there was hypocrisy in the show because at the root of activism is a fight against capitalism and the trauma that it causes so many people and that the show itself felt like a shiny capitalistic endeavor," she added.

She further added, "And because of all this, there is a feeling of insult, dehumanization, insensitivity and hurt that is being rightfully felt. I do not claim to be an activist and wholeheartedly agree that the judging aspect of the show missed the mark and furthermore, that I am not qualified to act as a judge."

In the post, Julianne also addressed the controversy stirred by her allegedly poor choice of Halloween costume in 2013, when she had darkened her skin to resemble 'Orange Is The New Black' character Crazy Eyes.

“On top of all this, many people are just becoming aware that I wore blackface in 2013, which only further added insult to injury. Wearing blackface was a poor choice based on my own white privilege and white body bias that hurt people and is something that I regret doing to this day,” she shared.

"However, the regret that I live with pales in comparison to the lived experiences of so many. My commitment has been to reflect and act differently. Not perfectly, but hopefully with a more developed understanding that racism and white supremacy is harmful to ALL people. I’ve definitely not addressed all the different, valuable feedback about what the show missed and my missteps. I want you to know that I am still listening, because this is a messy and uncomfortable conversation, and I’m committed to being here for all of it," she explained.

The celebrity host also for the show went on to explain why she accepted the offer in the first place. "In doing so, I felt it would help educate, mobilize, and inspire people around the world to get involved in activism because many worthy causes need attention, funding, and most importantly, the power to effect real change."

Julianne wants this to be a learning experience and respond authentically. "I’m going to continue to listen, unlearn, learn and take the time to be fully present with everything that you have all shared because I don’t want to just react. I want to digest, understand and respond in a way that is authentic and aligned with the woman I am becoming.

I also understand that there is no response that I could share that would make everyone happy, however, I want you to know that this is a conversation and I’m still listening," she concluded.

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