People are just realizing that both of Rita Ora's parents are white, and now she's being accused of
Redeem now - Rita Ora is a 29-year-old singer whose family is from Kosovo.
- Though Ora is white, it seems that many people incorrectly assume she's Black or mixed-race.
- A tweet calling attention to her parentage and accusing Ora of "blackfishing" racked up nearly 100,000 likes and 20,000 retweets on Sunday.
- Ora has worn cornrows and laid edges and has apparently drawn plenty of fashion inspiration from Black culture.
- People have accused Ora of intentionally encouraging a racially ambiguous image.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Rita Ora has come under scrutiny after a semi-viral tweet called attention to her white parentage.
On Sunday, one Twitter user accused the 29-year-old British singer of "blackfishing," attaching a photo of Ora with her parents and images of her wearing historically Black hairstyles.
"Finding out rita ora isn't black at all and both of her parents are white albanians is so trippy. the girls BEEN blackfishing," said the tweet, which has racked up nearly 100,000 likes and more than 20,000 retweets.
—❂ (@slitmyclitt) August 9, 2020"Like the girl isn't black in the slightest this is kinda freaking me out," the Twitter user continued, adding that white women "really slip into black personas so easily."
Ora's family is from Kosovo, a self-declared independent country in the Balkan Peninsula whose population consists mainly of Albanian and Serbian people.
In 2016, Wendy Williams told 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."
Despite her white European heritage, Ora has repeatedly worn her hair in box braids, cornrows, and an afro. More recently, she gelled and styled her baby hairs — all of which is widely considered cultural appropriation.
White celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian West, Jeffree Star, Bhad Bhabie, and Lucy Hale have been criticized for wearing similar hairstyles.
As Gina Conteh wrote for BET: "Black hair has been ridiculed, mocked, discriminated against, and policed since the first colonizers arrived on the continent of Africa.
"When we talk about the cultural appropriation of our braided hairstyles, whether its boxer braids or Bo Derek braids, we are simply pointing out the historical context and ancestral significance that comes with our hairstyles. Black hair isn't a trend as soon as it's on a white head."
Coachella was awesome...@itsjeremyscott until next year baby. #60's+ualreadyno
Paired with her tan skin tone, Ora's stylistic decisions apparently led many fans to think that she is Black or mixed-race.
As people on Twitter have realized she's white, Ora has been accused of intentionally cultivating the assumption, a phenomenon known online as blackfishing.
—jhya (@jhya15) August 10, 2020—Gabriella | blm🇨🇺 (@gabriellajones_) August 9, 2020—sarah ☁️ (@groovygirlll) August 9, 2020—Black Cherry Nerd (@cherry_LA) August 10, 2020—Tega✨ (@ophxlia__x) August 10, 2020The British TV writer Camilla Blackett said Ora "was absolutely selling herself as black in the UK for YEARS."
—Camilla Blackett (@camillard) August 9, 2020Cate Young, a culture critic, wrote that Ora "was absolutely doing Rihanna cosplay for a couple years there."
—🎓Cate Young (@battymamzelle) August 9, 2020Others accused her label, Jay-Z's Roc Nation, of marketing her as racially ambiguous or even "Rihanna 2.0."
—mandy 🦞 (@avatothemax) August 10, 2020—matty (@hexpositively) August 9, 2020Some people defended Ora, arguing that she's naturally "ethnic" or "ambiguous" and that her only source of blame is wearing Black hairstyles.
—Black Lives Matter ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@OhGarshJadey) August 10, 2020—albanianranting (@albanianranting) August 10, 2020Representatives for Ora did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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