Lily Allen Responds To Critics Calling Her "Racist"
Nov 14, 2013 22:44
Remember when Lily Allen debuted her awesome new music video which poked fun at Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, auto-tune, product placement,
twerking, Jessie J, RiRi, music executives, and the music industry
itself? That was fun right?
Turns out that not everyone was happy about how she did it. Some critics thought the imagery of a fully-clothed Allen surrounding herself with nonwhite, scantily clad backup dancers twerking came off as a little bit racist.
While the video director decided to lay low, Lily actually responded to her critics with this short blog post:
Turns out that not everyone was happy about how she did it. Some critics thought the imagery of a fully-clothed Allen surrounding herself with nonwhite, scantily clad backup dancers twerking came off as a little bit racist.
While the video director decided to lay low, Lily actually responded to her critics with this short blog post:
If anyone thinks for a second that I requested specific ethnicities for the video, they're wrong.
If anyone thinks that after asking the girls to audition, I was going to send any of them away because of the colour of their skin, they're wrong.
The message is clear. Whilst I don't want to offend anyone. I do strive to provoke thought and conversation. The video is meant to be a lighthearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture. It has nothing to do with race, at all.
If I could dance like the ladies can, it would have been my arse on your screens; I actually rehearsed for two weeks trying to perfect my twerk, but failed miserably. If I was a little braver, I would have been wearing a bikini too, but I do not and I have chronic cellulite, which nobody wants to see. What I'm trying to say is that me being covered up has nothing to do with me wanting to disassociate myself from the girls, it has more to do with my own insecurities and I just wanted to feel as comfortable as possible on the shoot day.
I'm not going to apologise because I think that would imply that I'm guilty of something, but I promise you this, in no way do I feel superior to anyone, except paedophiles, rapists murderers etc., and I would not only be surprised but deeply saddened if I thought anyone came away from that video feeling taken advantage of,or compromised in any way.
Do you agree with Lily's stance? But then again, artists should realize by now that they don't get to dictate to their audience how their art is perceived, so perhaps Lily should just let the video do all the talking next time instead of adding more fuel to the fire.If anyone thinks that after asking the girls to audition, I was going to send any of them away because of the colour of their skin, they're wrong.
The message is clear. Whilst I don't want to offend anyone. I do strive to provoke thought and conversation. The video is meant to be a lighthearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture. It has nothing to do with race, at all.
If I could dance like the ladies can, it would have been my arse on your screens; I actually rehearsed for two weeks trying to perfect my twerk, but failed miserably. If I was a little braver, I would have been wearing a bikini too, but I do not and I have chronic cellulite, which nobody wants to see. What I'm trying to say is that me being covered up has nothing to do with me wanting to disassociate myself from the girls, it has more to do with my own insecurities and I just wanted to feel as comfortable as possible on the shoot day.
I'm not going to apologise because I think that would imply that I'm guilty of something, but I promise you this, in no way do I feel superior to anyone, except paedophiles, rapists murderers etc., and I would not only be surprised but deeply saddened if I thought anyone came away from that video feeling taken advantage of,or compromised in any way.
