Bhad Bhabie responds to accusations of blackfishing
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Bhad Bhabie responds to accusations of blackfishing

Bhad Bhabie has provoked a backlash on social media after posting new selfie videos, which have seen the American rapper and internet personality accused of blackfishing.

Bhabie rose to fame after appearing on an episode of Dr Phil in which she uttered the much-memed line, “cash me outside, how bout dah?” At the start of the week, she posted a video on her Instagram Story in response to being called out on a photo in which her skin tone is markedly darker than her natural tone.

The first post saw was a photo of the foundation she was wearing to make her face appear darker in hue. Beneath, a caption read: “Case Closed.” She then posted a second photo in which she wrote, “Don’t ever ask me again why I don’t be on IG. I don’t make no money on here. I don’t need to be on here. I do it for my fans but y’all take it too far every time. It’s honestly sad and weird.”

The term blackfishing was coined by journalist Wanna Thompson. It describes the act of white people modifying their appearance through makeup, cosmetic surgery or digital photoshopping to appear Black.

On seeing Bhabie’s photos, many Twitter users were quick to call her out. “When will Bhad Bhabie be cancelled for dn blackface,” one user wrote, with another writing: “Bhad Bhabie blackfishing again smh. Black women are still the blueprint and standard.”

Another equally-incensed user wrote: “The last time I saw a pic of bhad bhabie she was whiter than chalk doing a song about gucci flip flops, that shade room video has me questioning my sanity at the moment.”

Others took it upon themselves to defend Bhabie, with one user writing: “How yall keep up with the Kardashians but wont let Bhad Bhabie wear bronzer and lip fillers without saying she blackface?” Last summer, Bhad Bhabie was accused of cultural appropriation, so this is by no means the first time the ‘Gucci Flip Flops’ rapper has faced allegations of this kind.