Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people.” (In it, the very white Stefani dressed up like a Native American.) When Native American groups predictably called the video racist, the band apologized, saying, “Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history. Earlier this year, Avril Lavigne released an extremely racist music video for “Hello Kitty.” Stefani’s behavior a decade ago set the precedent.Īnd it doesn’t look like Stefani learned her lesson: just two years ago, her band No Doubt had to pull the music video for their song “Looking Hot,” which featured band members playing a game of Cowboys and Indians.
Critics have also blasted Katy Perry for dressing up like a geisha with makeup that made her eyes look slanted during the 2013 American Music Awards. 'Hollaback Girl x Another One Bites the Dust Mashup' Gwen Stefani & Queen. Last year, Miley Cyrus’ use of twerking black backup dancers at the Video Music Awards launched 1,000 think pieces on whether Cyrus was playing on black stereotypes to prove that she was now a rebel. 62 Songs You've Definitely Listened To At Least 15 Seconds Of On TikTok This Year. It’s easy to wonder if Stefani had a hand in inciting what has now become a common cultural practice of white female pop stars using other races as props. Her obsession with the culture walks a very thin line between admiration and appropriation. Sure, 2004 was a different time - but it isn’t localized to that era: Stefani has a Harajuku Lovers line of fragrances and a Harajuku Mini fashion line for Target. MadTV even mocked Stefani’s racism with a skit:īut other than those critiques, the pop culture world wasn’t vocal enough on Stefani’s appropriation of Asian culture for personal gain. An ugly picture is better than a blank space, and it means that one day, we will have another display at the Museum of Asian Invisibility, that groups of children will crowd around in disbelief, because once upon a time, we weren’t there. In “Harajuku Girls,” Stefani calls their culture, “A Ping-Pong match between Eastern and Western.”Īt the time, comedian Margaret Cho compared the Harajuku girls to blackface and lamented how few portrayals of Asian culture there are in popular culture:Įven though to me, a Japanese schoolgirl uniform is kind of like blackface, I am just in acceptance over it, because something is better than nothing. The lyrics of her actual songs aren’t much better. As you can see in the video for the song “Harajuku Girls” above, the women are basically puppets.
She renamed them - as if they were pets - “Love,” “Angel,” “Music” and “Baby” after her album title. They followed her everywhere and were reportedly contractually obligated to only speak Japanese in public. The “Don’t search this up” trend saw users sharing innocuous videos where they tell views not to look up a specific TikTok user – as their profile image is revealed to have pornographic or gory content in it.After dropping the album, Stefani used four backup dancers known as the “Harajuku girls” in all her performances and as an entourage offstage. TikTok challenges have also had consequences for users, ranging from the relatively inconsequential to the gravely serious. A report from The Independent showed that conspiracy theories about George Soros and the Rothschilds received millions of views despite the company’s restrictions. This is not the only instance where TikTok has been used to spread antisemitic content. It also said the trend went against the company’s community guidelines and that it had removed the trend since it was first reported in this newspaper. We are committed to promoting a safe community environment and remove content that violates our Community Guidelines,” the company told The Independent. After the 51-year-old vocalist shared a mangled video of her lip-syncing to her own song (Bubble Pop Electric, her collab with André 3000 ), a fan responded, I love watching celebrities totally. "TikTok's mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy and we do not tolerate content, including trends, that promote anti-semitism and hateful behavior.
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