Suffice it to say that Gwen Stefani saying she is “Japanese” is a little confusing, considering she was born to an Italian American father and an Irish American mother.
The Voice US judge, who is from California, spoke about her heritage while speaking about a visit to the district of Harajuku in the early 2000s.
During an interview with Allure magazine, the Don’t Speak singer told the interviewer (who was of Asian heritage) about how she had made the trip before she released her controversial collection Harajuku Lovers in 2004.
“I said, ‘My God, I’m Japanese, and I didn’t know it’,” she said, before adding: “I am, you know.”
During the conversation, Gwen also claimed that she identified as “a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of a Japanese girl, a little bit of an English girl”. Eeep!
According to News.com.au, when the journalist Jesa Marie Calaor reached out to the singer’s rep about it, they said she had “misunderstood” what she was trying to say.
Asking for comment about it, the request was refused by Gwen’s team.
Doubling down, Gwen said: “(It) should be OK to be inspired by other cultures because if we’re not allowed, then that’s dividing people, right?” she said during the initial interview.
Gwen Stefani has been called out in the past for cultural appropriation
When the Rich Girl singer was dating former No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal, she often wore a bindi on her forehead.
When asked about the cultural accessory worn by Hindu women in 2019, she said she got a “little defensive” when it was called “cultural appropriation”.
“I get a little defensive when people (call it culture appropriation) because if we didn’t allow each other to share our cultures, what would we be?” she said in an interview with Billboard.
“You take pride in your culture and have traditions, and then you share them for new things to be created.”
Hmm, we don’t think that’s how it works, Gwen.
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