We need to talk about the Jenners. I know, I’m sorry. But they’ve crossed the line between faux pas and fuck up once again and it really needs to be addressed. After Kendall and the Great Pepsi Ad Disaster of 2017, one might have hoped or even assumed that the rest of year would be a quiet, controversy-free one for the young supermodel. That hasn’t happened.
Earlier this week Kendall and Kylie unveiled their new line of ‘vintage’ T-shirts – a range of tops bearing images of some of *the *all time classic bands and musicians… with the sisters’ faces, initials and Instagram posts superimposed over the top. Some of the legends featured included the Doors, Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur, Ozzy Osborne, Pink Floyd and Metallica. Safe to say it didn’t go down too well.
The internet seemed to turn its back on two of the most followed social media stars in the world for a moment and to be fair, the girls desperately needed to be called out for a widely inappropriate move that they clearly didn’t recognise as wrong in the first place. It’s been described as disrespectful, exploitative and appropriation, and I’d like to add ‘ridiculous’ and ‘worrying’ into the mix. Sharon Osborne even threw some serious shade and tweeted: ‘Girls, you haven’t earned the right to put your face with musical icons. Stick to what you know … lip gloss’.
It then came to light that the team over at Kendall + Kylie HQ didn’t actually ask the permission of the various music estates that they referenced (ripped off) on their t-shirts. Voletta Wallace, mother of the late Notorious B.I.G shared an image of one of the shirts on Instagram explaining that the product ‘has no affiliation to the Notorious B.I.G estate’. She wrote: 'I am not sure who told @kyliejenner and @kendalljenner that they had the right to do this. The disrespect of these girls not to even reach out to me or anyone connected to the estate baffles me. I have no idea why they feel they can exploit the deaths of 2pac and my Son Christopher to sell a t-shirt. This is disrespectful, disgusting and exploitation at its worst!!!’.
But the issue goes so much deeper than a prescriptive Twitter apology and the promise to do better next time. It's problematic on so many levels, but what's even more cause for concern is that this isn't in any shape or form a first-time offence for either of them. And the fact that things like this, and Kendall's Vogue India cover, or Kylie's quick appropriation of traditional black hairstyles but slow acknowledgement of the racism and struggles still faced by black Americans pose bigger questions. They're both surrounded by teams, somewhere along the production line are people high up in industries that dictate fashion, trend and social agendas. And this sort of shit is still getting passed them.
So, yes. The backlash against Kylie and Kendall's somewhat conceited attempt to revive the band tee and appear to know a thing or two about good music was inevitable. They screwed up and the whole thing is beyond stupid. But we can't afford not to recognise that they're just as much the products of a huge systematic problem that condones the appropriation of cultures by celebrities who are completely alien to them, all for the sake of a sales boost. These semi-regular blips by the Jenner sisters are really annoying, but that's the bit that genuinely worries me. That's the bit that we need to do something about.
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Main feature image : Kendall and Kylie
Follow Jazmin on Instagram @JazKopotsha
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.