When Kim Kardashian dressed as the late singer Aaliyah for Halloween last week, people had a lot of opinions about it. Many accused the reality TV star of cultural appropriation, while others simply thought that it was in bad taste.
Now the Keeping Up With The Kardashians lynchpin has defended her decision, writing about what inspired her costume choice on her official app.
‘When I was deciding what I wanted to be for Halloween this year, I had a lot of ideas that I narrowed down to musical icons and my second costume was Aaliyah,’ she wrote. ‘The look was inspired by what she wore in her “Try Again” music video. Aaliyah was such an amazing singer and she will forever be a music legend. I saw online that some people thought my costume was in poor taste and I am truly sorry if that offended anyone.’
‘When I was creating the costume, I wasn’t dressing up as a race or culture but rather as a woman whom I will always admire,’ she continued. ‘I play every kind of genre of music in my home and I like for my kids to be exposed to many different artists. For me, it’s always about love and respect. I loved that Kourtney was Michael Jackson for one of her costumes, and that my son was Axel Rose. We don't see colour in my home. We were paying homage to people and artists we love and respect — it’s that simple!'
It's not the first time that Kardashian and her family have been accused of cultural appropriation. Her younger half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner were recently called out about stealing black women's designs for their clothing collection, which Khloe Kardashian has also been accused of similar things for her Young American ad campaign.
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