WATCH: Yahritza y Su Esencia & Family Speak Out About Mexico Comments Backlash

Yahritza y Su Esencia recently spoke out about their recent controversy regarding Mexico City. On Aug. 20, the Mexican-American band opened up in an interview from their family home in Yakima, WA, about viral videos circulating the internet that have resulted in racist and xenophobic hatred from online users.

Earlier this month, the family trio received massive backlash because the vocalist said she didn’t like Mexico City’s loud city noises in an interview. The siblings were also criticized because Jairo said he preferred chicken wings over Mexican cuisine since he’s a picky eater. Since then, countless memes and opinions have circulated on the internet, resulting in racist online bullying. 

In a recent interview with Pepe Garza’s Pepe’s Office, the sibling trio, plus their parents and another sister, sat down at their kitchen table with him to talk about the recent misunderstandings. They talked about the now-viral interview about their food choices and the videos involving her facial expressions about drinking soda from a bag and where people speculated Yahritza’s language preference. 

During the new interview, Garza and the family are seen eating tortillas, rice, and beans in the dining room. Garza starts off by asking Jairo about his comments against Mexican food. He clarifies that he has a delicate stomach and that he doesn’t like salsa, but that he does like Mexican food. 

Yahritza also cleared up the misconception regarding her making a face at drinking soda from a plastic bag. Turns out, Armando just wanted to record her initial reaction. Yahriza said: “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh [that] is disgusting.’ It came out like that because I always make a face when he’s recording me.” She also recognizes that it looked bad when taken out of context but reiterates that her facial expression wasn’t due to her being grossed out about it but rather just an expression she makes to her brother when being filmed.

Furthermore, the host asked about another resurfaced video circulating TikTok where Yahritza tells another app user that just because she sings in Spanish doesn’t mean she has to speak in Spanish. With fuel from the initial backlash about Mexican cuisine, online users started a rumor that the vocalist disliked speaking the country’s language. 

“[The interviewer] made a comment where she said: ‘Why don’t you speak in Spanish if you sing in Spanish?’” Yahriza recalls to the host. “But I wanted to answer her, not in a bad way or anything, I just wanted to say that just because I sing in Spanish doesn’t mean that I have to speak in Spanish.” She clarified that though she speaks Spanish with her parents, she feels more comfortable speaking in English, hence her answer.

At the end of the video, Yahritza gets emotional while recounting seeing videos of death threats to her brother from online users. She says she didn’t even want to go out because of the fear of someone harming her. She also says that someone hurting her brother worries her the most. She recalls her parents struggling financially growing up and gets sentimental talking about seeing Mexicans against Mexicans.

With all this in mind, we hope online users can finally give the talented family members a break. Despite all of this, Yahritza y Su Esencia will continue their Obsessed Tour tomorrow (Aug. 23) in San Diego, CA. They will also hit other cities like Santa Ana, Riverside, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Dallas.

Watch the full interview below.