Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo Still Ridiculed After Addressing 'Mistake' Of Sharing Candace Owens Clip

Nine months ago, Notre Dame women's basketball star Hannah Hidalgo shared a clip of political commentator Candace Owens telling Don Lemon - the former CNN host who is gay - that same-sex marriage is a "sin" and that she does not believe "marriage can be between two men."

Hidalgo, who is open about her Christian faith, signed with Notre Dame over many other high-profile programs, in large part due to the Christian and Catholic ties within the university.

With a large number of women's college basketball players being lesbians, Hidalgo sharing the post to her Instagram story before later deleting it was labeled controversial by many, but she never addressed the situation.

That is, until now, after a number of her Notre Dame teammates entered the transfer portal. Among the group was Olivia Miles, who took a not-so-subtle shot at Hidalgo on her way out of South Bend.

Miles reposted a TikTok video stating, "Treating people right is better than posting Bible verses you don’t even practice." She then added her own caption to the video that read "Can't treat people bad then hide behind religion."

A few days after Miles' TikTok, players leaving the program, her former coach Muffett McGraw calling the post "insulting," and months of scrutiny on social media for sharing the Owens clip, Hidalgo addressed the situation in a letter published in The Player's Tribune.

Hidalgo wrote about the difficulty of trying to navigate life as a 19-year-old while becoming more well-known in the media world before talking about the post she shared to Instagram.

"When you’re 19 years old and trying to figure your life out, and you start to get buzz on social media – when you suddenly have a platform – it can be really overwhelming," Hidalgo wrote.

"It’s a learning process. Among other things, you have to be intentional about what you post. Which goes double if it’s somebody else you’re amplifying – as opposed to something that comes from your heart, that reflects your character and authentic self. You know the post I’m talking about.

Now, feeling misinterpreted is one thing. I’ve always been very private, and learning how to navigate the media in public as a young person is just plain hard. But realizing that I had this new responsibility and that I’d let people down, given the wrong impression, maybe even hurt people I care about – that got me spiraling," she continued in the letter.

She then went on to call her sharing of the Owens clip a "mistake" and told the world that she loves "all people."

"I grew a lot from the conversations I had coming off that mistake, especially with friends I was afraid I’d hurt. Instead, I was relieved to feel embraced and safe. I am not homophobic — I love all people, and believe we all deserve to exist authentically, but I understand now how that narrative developed," Hidalgo wrote. "I should have been more public about how much I value everyone’s humanity and how what makes us unique as individuals can be what powers a great team."

WNBA writer Sara Jane Gamelli thinks Hidalgo's letter was "forced" and therefore won't accept it.

It's quite unbelievable that Miles appeared to hold a grudge against Hidalgo for nine months about the social media post she deleted and very clearly apologized for behind closed doors, but then again, we're talking about very young adults trying to navigate life both on and off the court.

Hidalgo apologized for her actions and stated she is not homophobic in the most public way possible in a genuine story published online.

Hidalgo took nearly a full year to reflect on her actions on social media and put together a public story to explain what she's learned in that time about the situation, but that's not good enough. Nothing is ever good enough for some people who already have their opinions made up about a person, even if that person is a 19-year-old.