Gwen Stefani’s appearance in Sean Paul’s new “Light My Fire” music video has thrown her into hot water.
In the clip, the No Doubt frontwoman wears dreadlocks and a dress in the colors of the Jamaican flag, quickly sparking accusations of cultural appropriation on social media.
“no one can adopt a culture like gwen stefani does💀,” a person tweetedsharing images of Stefani sporting cornrows, henna and more in past videos.
“Ahhh Gwen Stefani went back to her Jamaican roots. Nature is truly healing”, another critic joked.
Some people specifically mentioned her traditional black haircut, with one tweet“Gwen Stefani even has ~dread~-esque twists in that video. I’m quite screaming. She’s seen all the tweets that say her era of cultural appropriation is being missed and she said BET.”
Another joked: “As a South Asian growing up in the 90s, I feel like her current appropriation is cheating us. How could you, Gwen? I thought that bindi was forever.”
The singer’s fans fought back in the comments, with one writing: “She doesn’t apply it. She appreciates it and she does it respectfully. She started in a ska band, a kind of reggae. She has always shown a love for race and culture. Some people just do it for profit. She’s doing it because she loves it.”
This is not the first cultural appropriation of the ska singer. When No Doubt first rose to prominence in the 1990s, she was in a relationship with Indian bandmate Tony Kanal and often wore a bindi.
And in the beginning, the singer “Don’t Speak” performed with a group of Japanese dancers called “Harajuku Girls”, while promoting her first solo album “Love Angel Music Baby”.
In 2019, the hitmaker “Hollaback Girl” responded to the reaction of the “Harajuku Girls” era in a Billboard interview.
“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 asked. “You take pride in your culture and have traditions, and then you share them to create new things.”
Vidak For Congress Style has reached out to Stefani’s representative for comment.