Kim Kardashian is barreling into 2018 with empowerment, purpose, and controversy. The internet icon on Monday posted stills from a photoshoot, and her braided hair has already sparked a beef with Lindsay Lohan. It’s also drawn backlash for cultural appropriation.
https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/958099226088452096
Perez Hilton on Monday posted about Kim’s new look to his Instagram, to which Lohan commented: “I’m confused.” Kim quickly shot back in the comments section: “You know what’s confusing…..your sudden foreign accent.”
Hilton was floored, writing: “@KimKardashian just responded to @LindsayLohan‘s comment on my photo of her new hair and I AM CRYING and squealing and gagging!!!!!!!! It feels like 2007 again!!”
Kim has since tweeted, defiantly, about her new-look braids. She notes that she gives “zero fucks” about presumably, the #Braidgate they’ve sparked on Twitter.
Hi, can I get zero fucks please, thanks pic.twitter.com/svo3tewQC8
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) January 30, 2018
But it wasn’t just Lohan that had an issue with her hair, though #Braidgate began innocently enough.
“So guys, I just got Bo Derek braids and I am loving them,” she said Sunday night on Snapchat.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BehHUATBWf_/
Derek, 61, wore braids in 1979 comedy 10. Kim mentioned the white Derek as the inspiration and not African-American contemporaries, which may have been a deflection tactic in anticipation of controversy. But if the reference feels too specific and distant, remember that on Jay-Z’s “Girls, Girls, Girls,” the rapper famously says “she thinks she’s Bo Derek, wear her hair in a twist.”
The backlash has remained fervent as Twitter users criticize Kim for making Black traditional hairstyles into her latest fad. That includes Black Mirror star Michaela Coel.
https://twitter.com/moeshamitchel/status/958041688127152128
https://twitter.com/MichaelaCoel/status/958320169419509760
Through it all, Kim’s continued the uploads:
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) January 29, 2018
Sister Khloe Kardashian stepped in to defend Kim on Twitter as well.
Between her pictures and her clap backs…. I'm just living for it all. Confidence looks great on you Keeks
— Khloé (@khloekardashian) January 30, 2018
But Kim’s not all fashion. She also on Monday retweeted a woke statistic about the world’s 1 percent, which presumably includes her.
https://twitter.com/WTFFacts/status/957841988811976704