It’s a banana, a banana.
Gwen Stefani, who was born in California to an Italian-American father and an Irish-American mother, has claimed in a strange new interview that she is Japanese – despite having absolutely zero ethnic ties to the country.
The No Doubt lead singer explained to Allure magazine on Tuesday how she visited the Harajuku district herself before releasing her now-controversial Harajuku Lovers collection in 2004 and realized she was apparently Asian.
“My God, I’m Japanese and I don’t understand,” she told the interviewer.
“I am, you know,” she doubled down.
Elsewhere in a wildly problematic conversation, Stephanie claims that she not only identifies as part Asian, but that she’s “a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of a Japanese girl, a little bit of an English girl.”
A rep for the “Don’t Say” singer reached out to interviewer Jessa Marie Culver the next day and — in what appeared to be an attempt to insult the writer — revealed that the journalist “misunderstood” what Stefani was trying to convey.
Alvar said it responded with an on-the-record request for details, which the “Voice” coach and her team declined to provide.
Stefani, 53, has been accused of cultural appropriation several times over the years. Over the summer, she faced backlash for wearing her hair as well as wearing a dress inspired by the Jamaican flag.
“[It] It should be okay to be inspired by other cultures because if we’re not allowed to, then it’s dividing people, right?” she asked Alwar.
The “Rich Girl” actress’ line has faced accusations of appropriation from time to time, which goes back to her Undisputed era, when she was often seen wearing a bandana as she hung out with her Indian bandmate Tony Kanal. was doing
“I’m a little defensive when people [call it culture appropriation]Because if we don’t allow each other to share our culture, what would we be?” she asked Billboard in 2019.
“You are proud of your culture and have traditions, and then you share them to create new things.”
