Rita Ora is being accused of Blackfishing again as a new wave of people realise she has two Albanian parents and is ethnically white. The conversation sprung up again on Twitter after one user tweeted that she never realised Ora was not Black.
‘Finding out Rita Ora isn’t Black at all and both of her parents are white Albanians is so trippy. The girl’s BEEN blackfishing,’ one social media user tweeted to over 110,000 likes. Sharing a picture of her with her white mother, followed by shots of her wearing braids and afro hair, thousands of people have responded to the tweet in shock.
Not just shock that Rita Ora isn’t Black though, also that people thought she was. ‘Who the FUCK thought Rita Ora was black?’ another social media user commented sharing the tweet, to near 80,000 likes. It seems then, many Black people have been discussing Rita Ora’s cultural appropriation for years, the majority just weren’t listening.
Because notably, Rita Ora has been open about her parents both being white Albanians, often talking about her childhood and family when discussing prejudice she faced as a refugee from Kosovo. She told reporters she came to the UK as an infant when her family fled persecution connection to the disintegration of Yugoslavia.
However, that’s not to say she hasn’t fed into confusion about her race. In fact, she told radio show the Breakfast Club that being racially ambiguous has helped her career. ‘A lot of people think that [I have Black in me] but I like that,’ she said. ‘It gets me places.’ She also told Wendy Williams she ‘might as well be’ Black on The Wendy Williams Show back in 2016.
In the meantime she’s been posting pictures of her demonstrating cultural appropriation in her hairstyles and subtly in her fashion, often donning colours of the Pan-African flag and wearing the Jamaican flag as a bikini top. Ultimately, all of these symbols contributed to confusion about her race, with her admitting on both aforementioned shows that people always assume she’s mixed race.
Ora is yet to respond to the Blackfishing complaints, but if gen Z are on the case, so often demanding responses from those for profiting off a certain culture while so many suffer from systemic racism, it seems she will have to.
Click through for anti-racism charities you can support...
Charities To Support - Grazia
1 of 23Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust
Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust works with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds aged 13 to 30 to inspire and enable them to succeed in the career of their choice
2 of 23Peace and Healing for Darnella Fund
Darnella Frazier, the brave young woman who filmed the murder of George Floyd, deserves peace and healing. In addition to the trauma of watching a black man be murdered by police, she has had to deal with trolls, bullies and ignorant people harassing her online. This fund is to support the healing and the restoration of hope for Darnella Frazier —whatever that means to her.
3 of 23Justice for Jacob Blake Fund
Set up by Blake's mother, this fund will cover his medical expenses, mental and grief counseling for his family and to assist them in the days to come, as they continue to seek justice for Jacob. A portion of these proceeds will also be used to benefit his six children.
4 of 23Milwaukee Freedom Fund
MFF was started by Black and Brown Milwaukee organizers to support residents' right to protest for justice. Donations help support their work helping protesters and community mutual aid and start a locally controlled and operated Milwaukee Bail Out Fund that is part of the National Bail Out Network. Through this work they will build on ongoing bail abolition efforts, support immigration efforts, work towards Black and Brown Liberation and support Black and Brown young people as they build a new world.
5 of 23George Floyd Memorial Fund
This fund covers his funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling for the family, lodging and travel for all court proceedings and to assist the family in the days to come as they continue to seek justice for George. A portion of these funds will also go to the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund.
6 of 23Minnesota Freedom Fund
The MFF is working with the US National Lawyers Guild and Legal Rights Center to help bails that are set for protestors.
7 of 23Prison Reform Trust
Prison Reform Trust works to make the prison system in the UK just, humane and effective.
8 of 23Joint Council For The Welfare Of Immigrants
The JCWI aims to create a world in which immigration law and policy are based on sound evidence, promote the rule of law and are underpinned by respect for human rights and human dignity
9 of 23Access UK
Helps reduce BME youth unemployment, provide employment and training solutions for youth offenders and implement anti-gang initiatives in the community.
10 of 23Charity So White
Tackles institutional racism in the charity sector.
11 of 23Black Thrive
Black Thrive works to reduce the inequality and injustices experienced by Black people in mental health services.
12 of 23The Ubele Initiative
Supports the African diaspora community.
13 of 23Women In Prison
Supports women affected by the criminal justice system and campaigns to end the harm of prison to women, their families and our communities.
14 of 23Race On The Agenda (ROTA)
Race On The Agenda (ROTA) is a social policy research organisation focusing on issues that impact BAME communities.
15 of 23Show Racism The Red Card
Provides educational workshops, training sessions, multimedia packages, and a whole host of other resources, all with the purpose of tackling racism in society.
16 of 23The Equality Trust
Works to improve the quality of life in the UK by reducing economic and social inequality.
17 of 23Stop Hate UK
A service for victims of racial harassment aiming to end hate crimes in the UK.
18 of 23Runnymede
Generates intelligence to challenge race inequality in Britain through research, network building, leading debate, and policy engagement.
19 of 23National Bail Out
This US charity is a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers and activists building a community-based movement to support our folks and end systems of pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration.
20 of 23Black Lives Matter
This US organisation (for which there is a UK movement here) fights to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever.
21 of 23BEAM
BEAM is a US training, movement building and grant making organization dedicated to the healing, wellness and liberation of Black and marginalized communities.
22 of 23Ahmaud Arbery Memorial Fund
Ahmaud Arbery was chased and gunned down by Travis McMichael, son of retired Brunswick investigator Greg McMichael, under the father's and son's pretenses of witnessing a burglary in Satilla Shores of Glynn County. There is no evidence of the alleged burglary.
23 of 23Belly Mujinga Memorial Fund
For the memorial of Belly Mujinga, the railway worker who was spat at before she died of Covid-19.