Rapper and singer, Doja Cat, took to Instagram to issue an apology regarding allegations of racism and self-hate.
What We Know:
- The controversy initially kicked off when “Summer Time Sadness” singer Lana Del Rey, made an Instagram post about wanting “delicate” women to be featured in the feminist movement, which accumulated the outrage of the worldwide web due to Lana name-dropping successful women of color to make her point. Doja Cat, who was one of the women mentioned in the letter, responded in the comments by writing “Gang sunk that dunker”. Some have interpreted the now-deleted comment as one of positivity, however, that didn’t stop many others from coming for Doja and her past racist remarks.
- Per The Daily Dot, recorded clips of the “Won’t Bite” singer participating in “racist incel” chat rooms made the rounds, where Doja was speaking with white men who made racist jokes while she laughed along. She also reportedly said in the chat that she didn’t want to be black, but didn’t mind being “thick”.
- Her 2015 song “Dindu Nuffin” resurfaced, which many perceived as a mockery of victims of police brutality. The slang “dindu nuffin” is “typically used by racists to poke fun at victims of police brutality and simultaneously diminish African-American Vernacular English,” says The Daily Dot. Virtually all weekend, a #DojaCatIsOverParty took over Twitter.
- “I’ve used public chat rooms to socialize since I was a child,” the 24-year-old wrote in her first apology. “I shouldn’t have been on some of those chat room sites, but I personally have never been involved in any racist conversations. I’m sorry to anyone I offended…I understand my influence and impact and I’m taking this all very seriously.”
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- She followed up and doubled down in an Instagram Live session on Monday, stating that the videos are “not even her,” and that the online hate is one of the reasons she stays away from social media.
- “That shit hurts my feelings,” she says in the video. “Seeing people come for me. Seeing people come for my character. Just like any of you guys, it wouldn’t feel good to me so I avoid social media. My friends looked on social media and they told me what was going on.”
- She continued by declaring she doesn’t hate herself, discussing her identity and her hair, whether she has a “raceplay fetish,” and the TinyChat chat rooms being “hurtful,” but not racist. “I’ve seen it, and I know that I’ve been targeted by it…but the narrative that it’s a white supremacist chat is completely incorrect.”
- She also stated that she used the term “dindu nuffin” in song as a way to “flip” the negative connotation into something positive.
This isn’t the first time the star has faced backlash. In 2018, she was forced to apologize for her use of homophobic language when a deleted tweet from 2015 surfaced in which she used the slur “f*****” to refer to Odd Future members Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt.
