Ariana Grande responds to cultural appropriation accusations over her Japanese tattoo
4 February 2019, 17:01
Ariana's ill-received Japanese tattoo has been the source of controversy for the singer who has faced backlash over its mistranslation as well as accusations of cultural appropriation.
Ariana Grande has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after both her '7 rings' video and recent Japanese tattoo led to accusations of cultural appropriation. The Japanese tattoo became an issue after fans realised that the ink was mistranslated, which Ariana later explained was due to extreme pain she experienced while she was getting the tattoo done.
Over the weekend, in a series of since-deleted tweets, Ariana seemed to respond to the backlash.
After TMZ tweeted a news article that claimed Ariana had been offered a million dollars to remove her Japanese tattoo, the singer responded with "i'll give ya'll a million dollars to get off my nuts."
Ariana went on to further address the controversies regarding the Japanese tattoo and the Japanese merch on her website.
"I also went back and had it fixed with the help of my tutor to be more accurate. I can't read or write Kanji obviously. What do you want me to do? It was done out of love and appreciation. What do you want me to say?"
"U know how many people make this mistake and DON'T care just cause they like how it looks?" Ariana continued. "Bruh... I care soooo much. What would you like me to do or so? Forreal?"
"There is a difference between appropriation and appreciation. My Japanese fans were always excited when I wrote in Japanese or wore Japanese sayings on my clothing. However, all of the merch with Japanese on it was taken down from my site not that anyone cared to notice."
Ariana also called the situation an "innocent mistake".
Last week, Ariana "fixed" her tattoo but the translation was still... not the greatest.
The entire controversy is certainly a lesson in why it's probably wise to avoid tattoos in languages you're not totally fluent and comfortable reading and writing in.
