Social media users were up in arms with Selena Gomez for ‘blackfishing’
American pop sensation Selena Gomez may be currently at the top of her game, banking in the success of her recent album Rare, but her latest move, has left the internet riled up.
The 27-year-old Lose You to Love Me crooner became target of internet censure following her recent shoot with Interview Magazine, which brought about accusations of ‘blackfishing’ her way.
The widely-used colloquial term refers to non-black people, specifically Caucasians, darkening their naturally light-toned complexions through artificial techniques, in an attempt to appear as someone with African roots.
After Interview Magazine’s official Instagram handle posted the picture of the singer earlier on Tuesday, social media users were up in arms with Gomez.
In the shoot, Gomez can be seen donning streetwear with visibly darker complexion and long braids, a look similar what is common in black culture.
Netizens gave the singer an earful over the shoot, with one user commenting: “Miss Selena Gomez looks black in her new photoshoot. Girlie can’t get enough of stealing her exes’ music ideas but is now stealing from black women smh this woman is problematic [expletive] and the public keeps ignoring it.”
“Why is Selena Gomez trying to be black,” chimed in another user.
“I was like, oh weird they didn’t give her the cover. That’s really bad, not even the skin but the hair and baby hairstyling too. Also, even the poses and styling (clothes) are very much not her and like she’s emulating some idea of a hyper-sexualized “urban” character to match the skin+hair+clothes,” said another.
The singer had earlier sparked backlash over another one of her shoots with Puma that showed her standing on top of books in a library, showing off the new sports clothing line.
Soon after netizens in India expressed their outrage over the offensive display and showing lack of respect to books that is seen as an extreme act of insolence in South Asian cultures, especially in the religions of Islam and Hinduism.
One social media user wrote: “Wonder if she ever visited a library before this photo shoot,” while another added: “Please don’t disrespect books, knowledge is sacred, we are suppose to respect it!”
