Ariana Grande
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Ariana Grande is facing the fire on TikTok after being accused of Asian-fishing - appearing to portray herself as Asian - in a recent photoshoot.
Grande appears in one of the photos wearing an oversized blazer, a small white scarf tied around neck, and sitting low in front of a wall, hugging her knees to her chest.
Niena, who goes by @kuzumi.n on TikTok, described how Ariana looks Asian in these photographs.
She noted that the pop star’s “innocent posing,” “little bows,” and the colour of her lipstick are too close to K-pop beauty.
Niena also showed an image of a K-pop star with a similar appearance to Grande.
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“They look a little too similar. Especially considering that Ariana Grande is a white woman,” she said.
Creative director and photographer Katia Temkin shared the photos on Instagram earlier the week.
Taking to the comment section on her video, Niena explained why she pointed out Grande’s makeup and clothing.
“I pointed out her makeup, wardrobe, and posing because they’re obviously influenced by existing East Asian stereotypes,” she wrote.
She did face some disagreement from people, with one writing “Genuine question: wrong about what? How could someone even be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ when we’re discussing opinions and interpretations?”
Niena responded with the following, in part: “The ones who don’t see an issue are wrong because they’re choosing to ignore it.”
Despite this, others agreed with Niena’s sentiments about Grande’s photoshoot.
“I didn’t even know that was Ariana Grande in the first pic. I thought this was like reviewing an Asian woman’s fashion or something. Oh my,” someone wrote.
“Ariana knows what she’s doing especially since she loves posing as brown woman for so long,” another added.
Someone else wrote: “I don’t understand how she wasn’t cancelled years ago when she decided to start Blackfishing.”
Last Friday, Oli London, a white influencer who considers themselves transracial, and identifies as Korean after cosmetic procedures to appear “Korean”, took to Twitter to praise Grande’s “new Asian look.”
I’m so in love with @ArianaGrande new Asian look. It looks so cute and oriental. Welcome to the TRANSRACIAL club Ari, so happy to have you join me. Can we become the King & Queen of Korea together already? 👑👸🏻🤴🏻 #olilondon #ArianaGrande #transracial pic.twitter.com/coWlW0idQS
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) December 3, 2021
This isn’t the first time Grande, who says she’s Italian, has been accused of appropriating culture.
In the past, she was called out for Blackfishing. Blackfishing refers to someone appearing to present themselves as Black when they aren’t, through hairstyles or having very tanned skin.
Other people on TikTok also called her out with similar concerns.
As of Monday, December 6, Grande’s representatives haven’t released a comment on the photos. It’s still not transparent as to whether or not she was attempting to look Asian.
Indy100 reached out to Grande’s team for comment.
