Singer Gwen Stefani repeatedly called herself Japanese when asked by Allure what she learned from the controversy around her Harajuku era.
and her long track record of misappropriation, most notoriously displayed in her early 2000s Harajuku Girls era.
“That was my Japanese influence and that was a culture that was so rich with tradition, yet so futuristic [with] so much attention to art and detail and discipline and it was fascinating to me,” she said. Later, upon traveling to see the Harajuku culture herself, she added: “I said, ‘My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it.” When the comment seemed to give the reporter pause, Stefani doubled down and said: “I am, you know.”Commentary: Yes, Kim Kardashian’s ‘Kimono’ is cultural appropriation.
The 53-year-old twice called herself Japanese in the interview with Jesa Marie Calaor — who shared that she is an Asian woman who grew up in New Jersey — and the singer rationalized her offending actions as a cultural exchange rather than cultural appropriation. Stefani added there is “innocence” to her relationship with Japanese culture, referring to herself as a “super fan.”
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