Florence Pugh Apologises For Cultural Appropriation After Wearing Cornrows
29 June 2020, 10:34
The Little Women actor penned a lengthy apology to her followers recognising her "faults, ignorance and white privilege", after a seven year old photo resurfaced.
Florence Pugh shared a long message to her 1.5 million Instagram followers, after a photo of her with cornrows resurfaced.
The Black Widow actress recently came under fire for the image, which was taken eight years ago, when the actor was 17-years-old.
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She then posted a statement, apologising for her actions, on her Instagram, where she referenced the incredible Black Lives Matter movement.
Florence began by discussing how she has bettered, by educating herself on the issues, and even going back to "tracing instances in [her] life" where's she been guilty of cultural appropriation.
The Oscar-nominated actress spoke about the time she first learned about cultural appropriation - when she was 18, after her friend, Holly, explained it to her.
"We finished up by having a pint when I proudly pointed to my newly braided 'Corn Rows'. That summer, red carpets were full of famous, white women with either one side of their hair shaved or braided."
Her 17-year-old friend then explained how she wasn't allowed to have her hair like that at school, as it was cultural appropriation, and taught Florence about the "history and heartbreak".
Florence was called out over a photo which saw her with braided hair, and wearing a beanie which she pained the Jamaican flag on. She posted the photo to social media with lyrics from Shaggy's 1995 hit 'Boombastic'.
Apologising for her actions, Florence said "I am ashamed of so many things in those few sentences.
"1) I had forgotten. How cruel. For 8 years I had no idea how many were offended.
"2) At the time, I honestly did not think that I was doing anything wrong. Growing up as white and privileged allowed me to get that far and not know," she continued.
"3) In the comments underneath I was even proud of it being my own hair," said Florence, before labelling herself as "uneducated" and "unread".
She finished her lengthy post by saying "I'm truly sorry to all of you that were offended for years or even just recently.
"I cannot dismiss the actions I bought into years ago, but I believe that we who were blind to such things must acknowledge them and recognise them as faults, our ignorance and our white privilege and I apologise profusely that it took this long."
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