The Apprentice star Amy Anzel criticised for poking fun at homophobic slur backlash

‘Sometimes it’s best to just shhhh for a while,’ one person replied

The Apprentice star Amy Anzel has poked fun at the backlash she received for tweeting a homophobic slur earlier this week.

The businesswoman is one of the candidates seeking Lord Sugar’s investment on this year’s series of the BBC show.

Shortly after the first episode aired, Anzel gained a following among some members of the LGBTQ+ community.

After she had asked her followers for advice on places to visit on Canal Street, which is Manchester’s gay club district, Anzel posted a tweet containing a homophobic slur.

She deleted the tweet after being criticised, and later shared a statement of apology, writing: “As soon as it was pointed out, I took it down. It was taken from a conversation – and I was repeating what my friends were saying. I really meant no malice by it at all, it was meant with love.”

However, during the latest episode of The Apprentice, which aired on Thursday (3 February), Anzel made light of the controversy on social media.

Sharing a photo of her wearing an orange jumpsuit, she wrote: “Me being condemned by gay twitter and the mainstream media for unknowingly tweeting an offensive abbreviation of the word homosexual…”

The follow-up tweet has caused another backlash, with one follower stating: “This quite clearly shows you don’t actually care.”

“Sometimes it’s best to just shhhh for a while,” Twitter user @tweeting_keith said, with @nath_ac97 adding: “Maybe try being an active ally babes.”

Amy Anzel poked fun at the controversy caused after she posted a homophobic slur (BBC)

Then, @stuart 11 added: “ Perfect example why we have the mute/block facility on Twitter.” Others urged her to “put [her] phone down” and “stop tweeting”.

There were messages of support, though, with some saying it’s “clear” Anzel’s heart is “in the right place”.

The Independent has contacted a representative of the BBC series for comment.

In the wake of the new episode, the latest candidate to leave the series has hit out at the hypocrisy of Lord Sugar’s reasoning for firing her.

The Apprentice airs Thursdays at 9pm on BBC One.