LOS ANGELES: "Riverdale" star KJ Apa has defended himself after the actor was accused of being silent on Black Lives Matter movement, saying he doesn't feel the need to prove his solidarity by sharing his attendance at the protests.
Many celebrities have come out in the support of the movement after the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota last month.
Apa was accused of silence on the debate after actor-comedian Elijah Daniel took aim at him during a Twitter conversation.
Talking about Apa's 2018 movie "The Hate U Give", about a black teenager who was shot to death by a white police officer leading to protests, Daniel wondered why the actor has not spoken in favour of the movement.
"I love that movie but I do have a question, completely unrelated to the beef I formerly had with him, if KJ was the co-star of that movie why is he so silent? "He has such a massive young audience and got paid to be in a movie about police brutality and....posted a black square?" he had tweeted.
Apa finally responded to Daniel's accusation on Sunday.
"I don't need to post about my opinions and beliefs in order for them to be real to me. I support black lives - but I don't feel it's necessary to prove to people I do by posting my attendance at these protests," the actor said.
On June 1, Apa posted a black square on Instagram along with the hashtag "#blackouttuesday."
The post was part of a viral Instagram campaign where users posted black squares to call attention to the deaths of Floyd and other black Americans due to police brutality.