Kim Kardashian Faces Twitter Backlash for Her Aaliyah Halloween Costume
Kim Kardashian decided to spend Halloween this year paying tribute to some of music’s greatest divas. She kicked things off Friday night with her ’70s-era Cher costume. (Her friend, Jonathan Cheban, dressed as Cher’s ex and longtime musical partner, Sonny Bono.) On Sunday night, she and big sis Kourtney Kardashian went as Madonna and Michael Jackson circa the 1991 Academy Awards. Both looks were, naturally, glamorous as hell.
But it’s the costume Kim wore in between these two that has the Internet in a heated debate. The reality star decided to dress up as the late R&B singer Aaliyah for one of her events. She specifically mimicked the look from Aaliyah’s “Try Again” video: a glittery bikini top and pants, a sparkly choker, and pin-straight hair. She even copied Aaliyah’s smoky-eyed makeup look from the clip. Here’s the Snapchat Kim uploaded of her final costume:
The backlash for this outfit was almost immediate, with several people accusing Kim of cultural appropriation. “Legend or not Aaliyah is a Black woman and you’re not. It’s offensive and you shouldn’t push this limit, but OK,” one person tweeted at Kim. “It’s offensive because [Aaliyah] is dead and you can’t pay homage when you’re an Armenian just using her look as a costume. That’s the issue,” wrote another. Check out these responses, below:
https://twitter.com/LAGrlCrookdSmle/status/924484787699453953
But a few people defended Kim’s look, noting that she didn’t dress in Blackface or appropriate Black culture is any direct way: She just copied a music video outfit. “There’s nothing wrong with what she did or her pick. She just wanted to pay homage to her icons including Cher, Aaliyah, Madonna and etc.,” one person tweeted. “She dressed up as a musical artist. No Blackface, nothing offensive. Y’all love to hate and reach for nothing. Stop it. It’s Halloween,” wrote someone else. Here are those tweets:
https://twitter.com/CharlieisLETHAL/status/924804064902336517
Kim hasn’t commented on the backlash yet, but we’ll update this post if she does.
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