Australian music group apologises after backlash over 'racist' song Pappadum

Wiggles’ founder Anthony Field-composed song Pappadum has received intense backlash as it went viral nearly six years after it was first released. From slamming the video for being “culturally insensitive”  to calling it racist, the song featured in 2014 has been on the receiving end of the heat on social media after it resurfaced just last week. The founder of Wiggles’ which is an Australian children’s music group, has even apologised saying the intention was not to be offensive. 

The song was reportedly featured in a years-old episode of ‘Ready, Steady, Wiggle!’ and is now being criticised for not only promoting “useless” stereotypes about Indians but also being called “cringy”. The short clip, which has now received millions of views and comments, shows people dressed in traditional Indian attires of Sarees and Kurtas and dancing with Pappadums around. One user even said that it was not the kind of representation Indians were looking for and since then the song has spread on Twitter like a rapid fire. 

The video also features a woman who appears to an Asian and presumably of Indian descent and she grabbed maximum attention. As per hundreds of internet users she “got no lines” and was evidently “uncomfortable” throughout the video. While some said she did not wish to be there, someone else said she “feels bad” for the woman. Watch:

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Anthony Field, The Wiggles apologise

The video’s virality even prompted the composer, Anthony Field himself to acknowledge the “mistake” and apologise by replying to one of the users. When a netizen tagged the Wiggles’ founder in a comment asking if it was the “creative brainchild”, Field replied by apologising and saying it was not his intention to be insensitive or promote any stereotypes. He also said that he had written and composed the song back in 2014 and was meant for celebration. 

Amid growing controversy, Wiggles also acknowledged the backlash by providing a statement to HuffPost. Saying that the show has been fortunate enough to work with artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, the Wiggles said that the intention of the show was to make a song about celebration and not to be insensitive. It added, “The song and video no longer features on our Wiggles official sites and The Wiggles have decided that they will not be performing it during their live shows going forward.”

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