Nicole Curtis Alleges Video Leak Was Part of Blackmail Attempt

Michigan native Nicole Curtis is speaking out again following HGTV’s decision to cancel Rehab Addict after a video surfaced showing her using a racial slur during filming.

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HGTV Cancels Rehab Addict

Earlier this month, HGTV removed Rehab Addict from its platforms, including HBO Max and Discovery+, after becoming aware of the clip. In a statement to Deadline, the network said the language used in the video was “hurtful and disappointing” and did not align with its values.

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Curtis Issues Apology

Curtis previously issued an apology through her team, saying she was “deeply saddened by the hurt her words have caused” and took full responsibility for their impact, the Detroit News reported.

In an Instagram post last week, she added that the footage circulating had been “stolen, then manipulated, edited and sold to a tabloid,” emphasizing that she makes no excuses for the original incident and that she is not a victim. “Nothing I say or do will take that moment 4 years ago away. I know it was wrong. This will never happen again,” she wrote.

Claims of Blackmail and Footage Ownership

Now, in a new Instagram post shared this week, Curtis is addressing how the footage became public.

She begins by saying,

So many moments of kindness have come my way this week via my amazing family, my friends, my neighbors, my fans, our city leaders & A lot of folks that were in my DMs who chose to have calls with me to find a pathway of understanding in all of this.

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In a disclaimer at the end of her statement, she alleges that someone she described as “personal (not crew)” demanded money before the footage became public. Curtis writes,

Someone personal (not crew) had access, demanded $, I didn’t pay—here we are,

She also pushed back on what she described as misinformation surrounding the production. She said that at the time the footage was recorded, she was not under contract with a network and that she personally hired and paid her crew. She stated that she owns her properties and footage and emphasized that no crew member “stole” material.

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Ongoing Renovation Work and Public Response

In the broader post, Curtis thanked supporters and said she remains committed to her renovation work in Detroit and other cities, even without a current network time slot. She also wrote that she does not condone the racial slur used in the video and urged people not to use her name as justification for hateful language.

See her full statement here.

Prior to its removal, new episodes of Rehab Addict had been scheduled to premiere earlier this month. The series originally debuted on DIY Network in 2010 before moving to HGTV in 2014.

This story is developing.