NEWSRita Ora Accused Of ‘Blackfishing’ and ‘Cultural Misappropriation’ On Social Media
Aug. 11 2020, Published 4:15 p.m. ET
Rita Ora has drawn new controversy and has been accused of ‘blackfishing’ by Twitter.
Twitter users discovered Ora’s Albanian roots and this led to a massive raucous on social media.
The 'Hot Right Now' star often talks about her Albanian heritage and how her family escaped from the war-torn region to take refuge in London, and despite this, the social media platform came lashing out, slamming the 23-year-old star for cultural misappropriation.
KIM KARDASHIAN’S FANS ACCUSE HER OF WEARING BLACKFACE IN ‘7HOLLYWOOD’ COVER
The tweet that led to the entire discussion blew up on Twitter — it garnered more than 109k likes in a matter of two days. The opinionated tweet came with pictures of Ora sporting hairstyles such as afro and box braids.
Ora, along with her family, had to leave Albania in 1991 after a decade-long war had cast its wrath on the country — thousands were killed and more than a million including Ora and her family had to flee for safety and a better, safer future.
Ora discussed her plight and the experience of being a refugee in April. She talked about “escaping persecution: when she was a kid in Albania, living with her parents and her sister.
Rita says that she visits her native country Albania, which was formerly known as Yugoslavia. She pays a visit to the place whenever she can and even wears the ethnic dresses, and taps to the local dance steps.
On The Wendy Williams Show in 2016, the host asked Ora: 'I thought you were half-Black and half-white, or something like that…”
Ora replied: “Everybody usually does. I might as well be. But no, I'm Albanian.”
This was one of the things that fueled the entire Twitter debate with several users bashing out on how the star has been “blackfishing”.
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
A tweet said: “The girls BEEN blackfishing... like the girl isn’t black in the slightest this is freaking me out. yt slang for Whitey women really slip into black personas so easily...
“if y’all knew she wasn’t mixed then good for you but don’t gaslight us like were delusional and randomly assumed she was black”.
“finding out rita ora isn’t black at all and both of her parents are white albanians is so trippy. the girls BEEN blackfishing,” read another.
Others joined in: “I was today years old when I found out that people actually thought Rita Ora was black,” said a user.
CELEBRITY BLACKFACE SCANDALS: KYLIE JENNER, JIMMY KIMMEL & MORE
Twitter users shared several images of Rita donning different hairstyles — some users responded to the pictures, saying that they felt confused whether Ora was black or not after looking at the picture.
Blackfishing is a term that is used to describe those who pretend to be black on social media for attention. They use hair products, make-up, and styles that change their appearance so that they can look more closely associated with the black culture.
Ora is not the first one who has been accused of blackfishing, previously, Instagram star Emma Hallberg, TikTok star Addison Rae, Selena Gomez, and Kim Kardashian, among others, have been accused of blackfishing as well.
