Gwen Stefani - “True Babe” + 5th Album

matthew.

Staff member
He/Him
New Year, New Harajuku-gate for Gwen!

https://www.allure.com/story/gwen-stefani-japanese-harajuku-lovers-interview

I spent 32 minutes in conversation with Stefani, many of them devoted to her lengthy answer to my question about Harajuku Lovers. In that time, she said more than once that she is Japanese. Allure’s social media associate (who is Asian and Latina) was also present for the interview and we were left questioning what we had heard. Maybe she misspoke? Again and again? During our interview, Stefani asserted twice that she was Japanese and once that she was "a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of a Japanese girl, a little bit of an English girl." Surely, she didn’t mean it literally or she didn’t know what she was saying? (A representative for Stefani reached out the next day, indicating that I had misunderstood what Stefani was trying to convey. Allure later asked Stefani’s team for an on-the-record comment or clarification of these remarks and they declined to provide a statement or participate in a follow-up interview.)

Me, I am, stunned dd.
 
At this point I'm not sure what value there is in trying to get an apology out of Gwen for cultural appropriation that happened years before anyone was using that word. If I had to guess I'd say what Allure really wanted was a bit of controversy for cheap clicks.
 
Gwenny Gwen Gwen……….

In the context of the full quote (being “a little bit of an English/OC girl”) I can sorta understand what she might have been getting at, but it’s worded it in the most obtuse way possible.
 
Why is she so…dumb? I genuinely don’t think she means any harm but she’s also so clearly trapped in a bubble and every time she opens her mouth about this it reinforces how out of touch she truly is. I’ll always love her and hope for new music but I wish she just wouldn’t do interviews for a while and actually read the room.
 
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he/him
Why is she so…dumb? I genuinely don’t think she means any harm but she’s also so clearly trapped in a bubble and every time she opens her mouth about this it reinforces how out of touch she truly is. I’ll always love her and hope for new music but I wish she just wouldn’t do interviews for a while and actually read the room.

I don’t think she means harm, but she seems to have a similar issue that Madonna had up until recently where she didn’t understand what appropriation was, which is ultimately profiting off marginalized people when you’re not part of that community. Gwen can have all the admiration and appreciation for Japanese and [insert random culture here] culture all she wants, but what she did with her brands was by definition appropriation, which is why they are no longer functioning entities. She was literally taking and selling “Japanese” culture, or a version of it, to the masses. Her appreciation isn’t what’s being called into question, and that’s what she isn’t understanding. I don’t know if these interviewers aren’t being direct and more confrontational or what, but she just doesn’t get it. But it’s funny how she’s asked about this almost yearly at this point and she’s not budging.
 
She is who she is and it’s who’s she’s always been, and even if she put out a three paragraph Notes app statement, it wouldn’t really matter or make a difference in the broader scheme of her career or how she’s thought about in the pop sphere.
 
he/him
As much as I defend Gwen around here, every time she answers questions about appropriation I'm just like

FYjEJC1WAAU6RGD.jpg
 
To be fair, I just don’t think people outside of her fanbase know she’s really spoken about it before. Her response this time certainly doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone here, but I’ve already heard from many who thought this was the first time she’s addressed it over the years.

I’m a bit startled by Allure’s decision to make it the headline/focus of the piece, when it feels fairly clear to me it was just a couple questions from the interview. It obviously affected the reporter, and she has every right to express that, but even putting those quotes within a larger piece would have received pickup. Making it the entire piece will definitely hurt the brand’s relationship with celebrities, but by the same token, I do appreciate the writer coming at it from a personal standpoint.

As mentioned, it’s not like any of us expect more from her at this point, but it doesn’t make it any less disheartening to hear her utter this tone deaf nonsense year after year.
 
he/him
Yeah, I wouldn’t even say she’s receiving any real backlash (yet) that I’ve seen. It’s just such an absurd quote that it’s actually kind of shocking and hilarious. She goes viral for being a culture vulture constantly, and it’s typically people mocking and laughing about it because of how prevalent and shameless it is, so this is just more fuel to add to the ~lore.
 
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She's in such a weird position in my mind. Like she was so cool back in her prime and there are artists that are able to evolve and grow with time...and she's just not one of them. It's not even about success or chart topping or anything like that.

Like the cool factor for her is gone. The desire to be seen as a serious musician and/or artist is just not present. It's not a bad thing per se, but it's just odd given how much her head was in the game originally.
 
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