No Doubt has landed themselves in hot water after their newest music video has incited claims of racism against Native American people.
The band pulled the music video for their single “Looking Hot” images of band members wearing Native American-inspired garb caused controversy. They also released a statement about the matter. “As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history. Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people,” the band said in their statement. “This is of great concern to us and we are removing the video immediately. The music that inspired us when we started the band, and the community of friends, family, and fans that surrounds us was built upon respect, unity and inclusiveness. We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video. Being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.”
Although this is the first time No Doubt has had to pull a video, this isn’t the first time they, namely Stefani, has used a culture as a fashion statement, also known as cultural appropriation. When Stefani embarked on her solo career, her image centered around Harajuku. Harajuku comes from Japan and is based on a district where young Japanese people congregate, socialize and show off fashions like gothic Lolita and cosplay. Stefani even had four nameless and speechless Japanese women follow her around. After Asian and Asian American people called her on it, she defended her actions. “The truth is that I basically was saying how great that culture is” she said in an interview. “It pisses me off that [Cho] would not do the research and then talk out like that. It’s just so embarrassing for her. The Harajuku Girls is an art project. It’s fun!” Hopefully, Stefani and her band mates will learn a lesson from this controversy.
