In the days since HGTV abruptly fired Nicole Curtis over a leaked video of her using a racial slur while filming one of her most recent episodes of “Rehab Addict,” members of the communities where she lives and works have been speaking out.
Detroit developer and restoration expert Maurice Turner, who worked with Curtis on a 2021 episode of “Rehab Addict: Rescue,” has expressed his anger and disappointment after posting a brief exchange he had with Curtis about the incident. And on February 17, 2026, parents at the Los Angeles school where her youngest son attends told TMZ they’ve complained to school administrators about her volunteering in their kids’ classrooms.
Developer Posts Direct Message With Nicole Curtis
On February 11, the day two new episodes of “Rehab Addict” were scheduled to premiere, HGTV pulled the show after Radar Online published a leaked video of Curtis mid-renovation, struggling with an apparent wire, muttering a racial slur in frustration, and then immediately asking her crew to get rid of the footage.
Curtis issued multiple apologies, first via TMZ, in which she said, “I want to be clear: the word in question is wrong and not part of my vocabulary and never has been, and I apologize to everyone.” She later posted a much lengthier explanation via social media.
The following day, Turner — whose home was renovated in a February 2021 episode of “Rehab Addict: Rescue” — posted about the video on Instagram and shared a brief exchange he’d had with Curtis about it. A screenshot Turner shared showed that he’d commented on a post about the ordeal “Shame on you @detroitdesign, do better.”
The screenshot showed she replied sent him a direct message that said, “Hi Would you like to have a conversation before you assume” and he responded, “Nope.”
Maurice Turner Says He ‘Definitely Appreciated’ Help From Nicole Curtis But Has Since Lost ‘Respect’ For Her
In his Instagram post, Turner wrote that after working with Curtis in 2021, he “had some respect for you” but that after seeing the leaked video, “I have absolutely lost that respect.”
On February 12, he told FOX2 in Detroit that he and his husband had a “great experience” with Curtis and her team when they swooped in to help with their stalled home renovation, telling the station, “I didn’t have a bad experience. She helped us in a time of need and definitely appreciated.”
Turner told FOX2 that seeing the leaked video was “a bit traumatic,” explaining, “When someone like myself or anyone in the black community or African American community hears that word, it does bring up that trauma, not only of what we may have experienced as we’ve been alive — because I’ve had incidents with that word used on me — but also the trauma of our past and the trauma of our history as a nation. It kind of hurt my heart, for sure.”
Days before the video was leaked, Curtis reached out to Turner and others, asking them to help spread the word about her “Rehab Addict” episodes that were supposed to premiere on February 11. But Turner told FOX2 he didn’t promote the show, noting that he was already “offended prior to that, knowing that she was referencing homes in Detroit as crackhouses.”
Turner added, “To me, I think we have to be aware of what we say and what we do. You know, growing up, you always hear the statement of like, you know, ‘Sticks and stones, but words won’t ever hurt us,’ but they do hurt us.”
Parents at School of Nicole Curtis’ Son Also Concerned About Leaked Video
Meanwhile, TMZ reported on February 17 that a group of parents whose kids attend school with Curtis’ young son are concerned that the HGTV alum has continued to volunteer in classrooms there.
“One parent pointed out there are children of color who attend the school,” TMZ reported, “and they’re shocked leadership has been mum on what happened.”
After multiple parents complained to the administration, they told TMZ they were told it’s not a “school-wide issue,” so there’s no reason to keep Curtis from volunteering.
