Last week, Kim Kardashian-West hit the red carpet of the MTV Movie and TV Awards looking like a total snack. She was, however, also a snack who’d opted to wear cornrows for the second time, and Twitter was not impressed.
Watching her repeat her mistake, it seemed like KKW had learned absolutely nothing from the backlash against her cultural appropriation—but, in a new interview with Bustle, the reality star insisted she knows full well what the braids symbolize, is respectful of the braids' origins, and doesn't intend to offend anybody.
“I actually did that look because North said she wanted braids and asked if I would do them with her. So we braided her hair and then we braided my hair,” Kim explained.
On one hand, it makes sense that Kim would want to celebrate, support, and embrace North’s natural hair, and who doesn’t love a matchy-matchy mom and daughter moment? Still, having a personal reason to culturally appropriate doesn't make it okay.
In her Bustle interview, Kim went on to admit that she understands the angry reaction that her original braided look received, especially considering that she referred to her Fulani braids as "Bo Derek braids" in an Instagram post.
"I remember the backlash when I had the blonde hair and that I called them 'Bo Derek braids.' But I obviously know they're called Fulani braids and I know the origin of where they came from and I'm totally respectful of that,” Kim said. “I'm not tone-deaf to where I don't get it. I do get it.”
Defending her decision further, mother-of-three Kim added: "Maybe if I had come out and explained that from the beginning instead of calling them 'Bo Derek braids,' then it wouldn't have gotten such backlash."
She added: “But in no way am I ever trying to disrespect anyone's culture by wearing braids. If anything, my daughter was so excited to see me get matching braids with her. [When] we did her hair in these braids, she was so excited."
Regardless, the internet has a firm answer: Nope.
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