Ariana Grande Accused of Cultural Appropriation Over ‘Asianfishing’ Photos

Ariana Grande has been accused of Asianfishing in a new photoshoot. This isn’t the first time the “No Tears Left to Cry” singer, who was born in Florida and has Italian heritage, has been criticized for cultural appropriation. Here are the photos, Grande’s history of cultural appropriation, and how fans are reacting. 

Ariana Grande has been accused of Asianfishing in a new photoshoot

Images from a new photoshoot with photographer Katia Temkin have fans accusing Grande of Asianfishing. The term Asianfishing refers to when a non-Asian person attempts to appear Asian through makeup, hairstyles, posing, or photo editing. 

In the pictures, Grande wore an oversized green jacket with a white ascot tied around her neck. Her hair is styled in her signature ponytail style with a matching white bow. 

Critics are pointing out that the singer’s eyeliner, skin tone, outfit, and pose in the photos make her look like the typical K-pop star, generating accusations of Asianfishing. 

Rather than addressing the accusations directly, the “Rain On Me” singer quickly deleted the photos from her Instagram account. 

In 2019, the singer was criticized for getting a Japanese tattoo. She tried to get the Japanese translation of “7 rings” inked on her palm because the song was topping charts. But due to translation error, what Grande actually got tattooed on her hand was “barbecue grill.”

Ariana Grande has been accused of blackfishing in the past

This isn’t the first time Grande has been accused of cultural appropriation. She has come under fire in the past for blackfishing, or changing her appearance and mannerisms to resemble a black woman. 

Her music video for “7 rings” was particularly criticized for taking parts of black culture and wearing it “as a costume.”

Even her ex-fiancé Pete Davidson joked about the singer’s dark spray tan. “Can you imagine if I did that? My career would be over tomorrow,” Davidson said (via Insider). “If I spray-painted myself brown and hopped on the cover of Vogue magazine and just started s***ting on my ex?”

And when Patti Labelle presented the “Sweetener” singer with the 2018 Billboard Woman of the Year Award, she mentioned telling Grande to “sing like the little white black girl that you are.”

Fan reactions over the singer’s Asianfishing photos are mixed

Social media users are commenting on Grande’s alleged Asianfishing photos, and their reactions are mixed. 

One Twitter user commented, “I don’t think ariana grande was ‘asianfishing’ with intention but there’s a point where you gotta think about how she has spent a lot of her singing career “de-whitening” herself sorry!”

Another Twitter user wrote, “Ariana Grande hijacking Korean aesthetic is F***IN’ WEIRD and class A #asianfishing and idgaf how good the chick sings, this doesn’t get a pass.”

And another tweeted, “it irritates me so much that people still defend ariana grande after all the stuff she’s done, first black fishing, making fun of native culture with her friends, now asianfishing?? very weird that you ariana toe suckers STILL think she’s all innocent.”

Others defended the pop star with tweets like, “are we going to stop attacking ariana grande? you all need to let her live. you judge her color and now her eyes. do you understand that you judge everything about her appearance? do you want to harm her mental health? ariana doesn’t do asianfishing, it’s just her makeup. Stop.”

Another fan tweeted, “People are so annoying. Let @ArianaGrande live her life.  Those pictures were beautiful.  I swear yall always find something to complain about. Go play with some legos. #AsianFishing ??? Smfh.”