The singer received heavy backlash on social media following the release of her latest music video on Friday.
Gwen Stefani is facing new allegations of cultural appropriation following the release of her new music video. The clip is for the new version of her song „Slow Clap,“ which features rapper Saweetie, but the imagery it contains—rather than the music—quickly became a narrative after its Friday morning release. In the video, Stefani is surrounded by young, Black backup dancers, as she sings the boisterous, feel-good lyrics. The scenes alternate between a locker room and a gymnasium, where the dancers jump rope and basketball players practice. Throughout, Stefani wears large hoop earrings, long golden nails and brightly colored gym wear. Her hip hop–inspired look, and the visual presentation of her amid people of color, led to her being accused of cultural appropriation on social media. Some fans on Twitter appreciated the presence of Saweetie, who appears on this remixed version of the song, which was previously released in another form by Stefani in March. Saweetie has been in headlines recently due to her breakup with partner Quavo from Migos and video footage that showed an apparent physical altercation between the two. Even still, the rapper’s appearance in the video and guest vocals did little to quell talk of appropriation. As some people pointed out, Stefani has a long history of appropriation allegations.
