Patrick Starrr Accused of Cultural Appropriation

Lilian Min
Updated
Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved
Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

From Cosmopolitan

When social media star and makeup artist Patrick Starrr decided to pay homage to fashion queen Solange, he probably didn't think that his post - with the caption "Peace. Love. Positivity." - would cause a kerfuffle. If anything, he looks great in his white jumpsuit and...

...an afro wig. The hair and outfit combination makes sense when you look at Patrick's inspiration, which was Solange on her wedding day:

But responses to these outfit tweets are rather mixed. On the one hand, there are folks who love Patrick's whole look and inspiration:

But other folks dropped into Patrick's mentions to point out that as a Filipino man, the use of the afro wig could be constituted as a sort of cultural appropriation, even when done in the name of accurate homage:

Patrick eventually posted an apology/explanation for his outfit:

"I want to apologize for offending anyone with my hairstyle last night. I wanted to celebrate a beautiful hairstyle inspired by Solange. I am not in any way claiming to be black. I am Filipino and accepting and I hope we can all celebrate beauty/diversity all together."

While it's clear that Patrick was only trying to pay a compliment to a favorite artist, it matters to see him engage with these kinds of culturally-specific critiques, rather than dismissing concerns or acting defensive from another perspective.

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