Alexandra & Andrea Botez apologize for “dumb” human rights comments

Chess streaming sensations Alexandra and Andrea Botez have apologized for comments they made relating to human rights abuses in Dubai while on tour for the World Chess Championship.

On December 6, the chess queens of Twitch faced backlash after Alexandra criticized other countries for their past human rights abuses while stating that the two wouldn’t discuss any of the concerns in the UAE while visiting it.

This resulted in some viewers thinking that the two were purposefully remaining silent on issues going on in the Middle East or even supporting slavery.

Despite the Botez sisters claiming their comments were taken out of context, the damage had been done and the two opened their December 7 broadcast to issue an apology.

Botez sisters apologize for comments on human rights

To begin their stream from the World Chess Championship between reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexandra clarified her views from the other day.

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“I wanted to address some of the comments on LSF that were defending or supporting slavery. Nothing justifies human rights violations. Nothing. We obviously do not support slavery of any kind for any reason anywhere,” she said.

She further reiterated that her prior comments were taken out of context and that she had made it clear she opposed slavery on multiple streams from the World Chess Championship.

“Last time we streamed I made a dumb, off-hand comment that couldn’t be further from what I actually think. It was a moment of poor articulation of a half-baked unrelated thought and out of context, I see how that can be interpreted to mean a variety of different things,” she apologized.

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The sisters also quashed rumors that they had been paid by the government to be in Dubai, noting that them being there didn’t mean they supported local politics.

“It’s a conversation we feel safer having when we’re back home,” the elder sister added.

It will be interesting to see what the two end up saying once they are back home in the land of the free, but it’s unlikely we see any more comments from the two until they touch down on American soil.