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Gwen Stefani's Most Controversial Moments All Involve Accusations Of Cultural Appropriation

gwen stefani controversial moments
Source: mega

Nov. 5 2022, Published 12:01 a.m. ET

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While Gwen Stefani is known for her pop punk roots, flair for fashion and gig on The Voice, the star has also caused quite a few uproars due to some of her choices over the years.

Scroll down for all of the times the blonde beauty's appearance has sparked controversy.

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'Looking Hot' Music Video

gwen stefani controversial moments
Source: mega

No Doubt caught flack for their "Looking Hot" music video, as it depicted the blonde beauty in a headdress and tribal frock with teepees in the background. At one point, her character in the video is even handcuffed by cowboys and after enough uproar, the video was taken down.

Shortly after its 2012 debut, the band pulled the video and apologized to the Native American community. "As a multi-racial band, our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history," the group stated. "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. This is of great concern to us and we are removing the video immediately."

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"The music that inspired us when we started the band, and the community of friends, family, and fans that surrounds us was built upon respect, unity and inclusiveness," their message continued. "We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video. Being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are."

'Harajuku Girls' Song

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Source: gwenstefani/youtube

While the songstress insisted her 2004 track "Harajuku Girls" was a love letter to the women, many found the tune in poor taste.

"I wanted to write a song that talked about my love for Harajuku," she explained. "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? You take pride in your culture and have traditions, and then you share them for new things to be created."

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'Light My Fire' Music Video

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Source: seanpaul/youtube

To film the accompanying music video for Stefani's collab with Sean Paul and Shenseea, many thought the mom-of-three went too far, as she sported dreadlocks and a dress featuring the colors of the Jamaican flag.

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Harajuku Dancers

gwen stefani controversial moments
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While the Harajuku Girls themselves defended dancing with Stefani on stage, some individuals, such as comedian Margaret Cho, thought doing so perpetuated negative stereotypes of Asian women.

Still, the singer said she doesn't regret the move. "For me, everything that I did with the Harajuku Girls was just a pure compliment and being a fan. You can't be a fan of somebody else? Or another culture? Of course you can. Of course you can celebrate other cultures," she explained to TIME. "That's what Japanese culture and American culture have done."

Continued the superstar, "It's a beautiful thing in the world, how our cultures come together. I don't feel like I did anything but share that love. You can look at it from a negative point of view if you want to, but get off my cloud. Because, seriously, that was all meant out of love."

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Her & Saweetie's Music Video For 'Slow Clap'

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Source: @gwenstefani/youtube

Some fans weren't happy when Stefani released the music video for her and Saweetie's remixed version of the song "Slow Clap," as the former donned hip hop-inspired looks like big hoop earrings and long nails.

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Wearing A Bindi

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Kanal and Stefani

Though a bindi is usually worn by those living in an Indian subcontinent or those a part of the culture, Stefani began wearing them when she started hanging out with bandmate Tony Kanal's mom.

"I had never, growing up in Anaheim, spent any time with anyone from India. And his mom would come down the stairs ready to go to these Indian parties, all dolled up with the bindi and jewelry and these beautiful fabric dresses," she recalled.

The "Rich Girl" singer became enamored with bindis since she had "never seen anything like it," so Kanal's mother "gave me a lot of bindis," she said of why she wore them.

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