Gwen Stefani accused of cultural appropriation: ‘I’m Japanese and I didn’t understand it’ – National

Gwen Stefani has as soon as once more denied that she ever appropriated Japanese tradition throughout her 2000s Harajuku period — and the backlash has been “B-A-N-A-N-A-S.”

In a brand new interview with Allure Magazine, Stefani, 53, was requested about her fascination with Japan, particularly Harajuku subculture. (Harajuku is an city neighbourhood in Japan that’s internationally referred to as a hub for Japanese younger individuals and trend.)

In the interview, which centred across the launch of Stefani’s new vegan magnificence model, GXVE Beauty, the Rich Girls singer was requested what, if something, she’d discovered from her Harajuku period and the backlash that adopted. In response, Stefani advised author Jesa Marie Calaor, who’s Filipina, about her first journey to Japan.

“My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it,” she stated. “I am, you know.”

At the beginning of her solo profession, Stefani launched her 2004 debut studio album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby, which noticed her tour with a gaggle of 4 Japanese and Japanese American backup dancers referred to as “Harajuku Girls.” Four years later, she launched her intensely standard “Harajuku Lovers” perfume assortment, which was offered in bottles that resembled the ladies in Stefani’s Harajuku Girls crew.

At the time, the advertising for Stefani’s music and her personal private trend was closely influenced by Japanese tradition.

Stefani, who’s Italian American, stated she was first launched to Japanese tradition by her father, who labored for Yamaha and frequently travelled between California and Japan as a part of his employment. As an grownup, Stefani travelled to the nation herself and have become a “super fan” of the tradition.

“If [people are] going to criticize me for being a fan of something beautiful and sharing that, then I just think that doesn’t feel right,” Stefani advised Allure. She added that her affinity for Japanese tradition is “innocent.”

“I think it was a beautiful time of creativity,” she stated of her Harajuku period. “A time of the ping-pong match between Harajuku culture and American culture.”

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Gwen Stefani talks about her new single ‘Let Me Reintroduce Myself’

Stefani described herself as “a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of a Japanese girl, a little bit of an English girl.”

She added that she can also be impressed by the Hispanic and Latinx communities of Anaheim, Calif., the place she grew up.

“[It] should be OK to be inspired by other cultures because if we’re not allowed then that’s dividing people, right?” she stated.

Stefani’s representatives reportedly reached out to Allure after the interview and claimed the reporter misunderstood the singer’s feedback. The representatives didn’t, nonetheless, make clear what Stefani allegedly meant to say.

In 2021, Harajuku Stefani made a return within the singer’s music video for Let Me Reintroduce Myself. In the video, Stefani is seen standing in entrance of inexperienced display cherry blossoms carrying solely Kanzashi hair clips and gold jewellery.

That similar yr, Stefani additionally denied that had ever appropriated Japanese tradition. In an interview with Paper Magazine, she stated, “If we didn’t buy and sell and trade our cultures in, we wouldn’t have so much beauty, you know? We learn from each other, we share from each other, we grow from each other.”

Calaor wrote that she felt uncomfortable with Stefani’s feedback, particularly as a result of it “comes with sobering realities during a time of heightened Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate.”

“I envy anyone who can claim to be part of this vibrant, creative community but avoid the part of the narrative that can be painful or scary,” Calaor wrote.

On social media, followers and opponents of Stefani have reacted with every part from outrage to bemusement.

Stefani is at the moment wrapping up some California tour dates earlier than hopping throughout the pond to the U.Ok. for a brief summer time stint.

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