Rihanna Gets Called Out For Culture Appropriation After Asian-Inspired Cover Shoot

Some agree while some don’t.
Rihanna debuted her Harper’s Bazaar China magazine feature last week that saw the singer dressed in ancient and modern Chinese garb, symbolizing the country’s collision of East and West. The photographers, designers and visual editors behind the shoot were all Chinese but that hasn’t stopped people from calling Rihanna out for cultural appropriation and a double standard in the matter – considering other acts such as Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner got heat for their previous culture inspired cover shoots.

“Wait a minute when Kendal Jenner was on the cover of a magazine with an “afro” people were screaming cultural appropriation but when Rihanna dresses up like this nobody says anything, it’s art, it’s glam ??fuck the double standards,” one user wrote.

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While a large number of users online weren’t too happy with the cover photo, there was an even amount of people who defended the singer’s actions. “It’s directed by chinese artists in a chinese mag published IN CHINA where the chinese aren’t a minority. cultural appropriation happens when you take someone’s culture for your own. rihanna was literally dressed to pay homage to their culture. appreciation, not appropriation,” another user chimed in.

Peep more reactions below and let us know what you think.

I did think the Rihanna pics were cultural appropriation. The only difference is that the whole shoot was done by Chinese individuals.

— ????Deposit the money to BRENDA! (@mindbodyxsoul) July 10, 2019

https://twitter.com/redjetseven/status/1148826393024667649

https://twitter.com/redjetseven/status/1148826393024667649

https://twitter.com/uglybithc/status/1148611734061682688

It is so interesting how people have been impulsively calling Rihanna’s photo shoot in Harper’s Bazaar China as “cultural appropriation” when the entire creative team consists of Chinese artists

— baldheaded (@femmeminem) July 9, 2019

https://twitter.com/seoulcialite/status/1150444097489928192

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