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James Besanvalle
Oct 07, 2020
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Getty
YouTuber and beauty influencer Nikita Dragun sparked backlash on Sunday after she asked “what race” she should be that day.
The makeup artist appeared to be making a joke in a now-deleted tweet that asked:
what race is nikita gonna be today ?
Almost immediately, people started calling her out for her “careless” tweet.
Some people accused Dragun of “blackfishing” – a play on the word “catfishing”, to mean people who edit their photos to appear darker. It’s essentially a form of cultural appropriation and people weren’t happy:
so Nikita Dragun finds her blackfishing as a joke?? why df does she still have a platform https://t.co/QIstAdroGc— alex (@alex) 1601851119
if BLACK people are telling you that you're being racist / blackfishing then listen to them, why is nikita dragun t… https://t.co/0a3iDM2Ln6— alex (@alex) 1601853297
The backlash prompted Dragun to delete the tweet and issue a clarification:
i know it’s a joke to comment on my race but i’m really tired of having to defend myself on every post. “she’s hisp… https://t.co/8N3Qq7hz62— Nikita Dragun (@Nikita Dragun) 1601851946
She also tweeted:
growing up mixed i was never enough or fully accepted. i don’t have to pick a side. i am not incomplete of my races… https://t.co/Cywg9ki0v3— Nikita Dragun (@Nikita Dragun) 1601852222
And when called out over a photoshoot where her skin colour looks considerably darkerned, she responded:
i was hired as a model. i didn’t have any control over editing. i showed up did my job and left. this was a photo f… https://t.co/IYVAxA0JQu— Nikita Dragun (@Nikita Dragun) 1601853018
But people still happy about the alleged “blackfishing”:
@NikitaDragun being biracial doesn’t mean you get a pass on blackfishing when you’re not part black https://t.co/J0e7CeZEgx— ✨💒sarah tonin💒✨ (@✨💒sarah tonin💒✨) 1601863532
@NikitaDragun why is it such an issue for u to admit that u are guilty of culture appropriation and blackfishing...… https://t.co/aS2EYuQikq— mikal (@mikal) 1601852600
Dragun has previously faced backlash for wearing a dreadlock wig in 2018 and also braids in 2019 – both hairstyles originating from the Black community.
She was also previously called out for now-deleted resurfaced tweets where she said “Imagine being black? I could never” and “When you're so tan you look black”.
indy100 reached out to Nikita Dragun for comment.
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