MAMAMOOO’s Hwasa's alleged 'Nigerian dress' leads to online outrage; makers clarify

MAMAMOO’s Hwasa is a cast member in the MBS reality show I live Alone (literal translation). The show is about celebrities living their daily life alone. In the show, there are co-cast members Par Na Rae and Han Ye Jin.

Recently the show aired a special live on the YouTube channel of I Live Alone. For the segment, the three followed outfits of different concepts. MAMAMOO’s Hwasa’s outfit, specifically was called out by netizens, as it resembled to be African descent, as per fans. Hwasa’s screengrab from the segment was shared several times by fans. Her name was on the trending list on Twitter USA on July 25 and July 26.

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Netizens were left divided on the incident. Some followers are labelling MAMAMOOO’s Hwasa as ‘racist’. Some are bringing back past incidents where she was seen dressed in braids similar to African clothes. In a past incidence, Hwasa had apologised to using the ‘n’ word. Several fans are now urging her to apologise regarding the incident. While others are blaming that the 'botched up' captions are the reason for the controversy. 

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Netizens' opinion divided over MAMAMOOO’s Hwasa's latest controversy

In the video, Hwasa is seen saying, “I came in the elevator and the staff saw me and were not bothered by my look.” She adds, “People saw Georgina ( Na Rae) who has dressed up clearly vibrantly and assumed there is a shoot.” Hwasa's Nigerian dress is a beige and white Kaftan in the alleged ‘mocking’ look. She is wearing a turban which has similarities to African headcovers. This look was termed to be Hwasa's Nigerian dress, as per netizens. 

The comments and the reactions of netizens on Hwasa's Nigerian dress were seen by MBC and the creators pinned comment on the YouTube Live video.

MBC wrote, “We have received negative messages regarding Hwasa's outfit. We want to clarify that this outfit originated from a Korean 'sauna' look that Hwasa often wore on our program. We had no intention of comically presenting a traditional outfit of a particular country. We realize that some of you have falsely identified Hwasa's outfit as a reflection of the Nigerian traditional outfit. Furthermore, due to the 'comic' genre of our show, some of you have shown concerns suggesting a comical reflection of traditional outfits and the possibility of it leading to racism.

However, we want to assure you that we had no intention of relating her outfit to a specific culture. We hope this provides an explanation for your concerns. Thank you for all your love and support for our program.” This statement is on the official I live Alone’s video.

MBC's statement is mentioned under the following video after fans called out Hwasa's Nigerian dress

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