Malaysia Pargo may be popular on the VH1 “Basketball Wives” reality series, but sis isn’t currently a fan favorite on social media. Pargo got slammed by social media users after she was seen rocking a red Gucci bathing suit on Nikki Beach Saint Barth. “Something about sand & beaches 🤷🏽♀️,” Pargo’s caption read on Instagram.
“Still wearing Gucci smh.”
“That mf cute as but #nogucci. 🙅🏽♀️”
“Not with Gucci!!! 🤷🏾♀️”
“Ok, you wrong for the Gucci boo!! You know TI is going to go in if he sees this pic!! It’s cute though.”
“Cute but 🙅🏽♀️Gucci.”
So why are fans so upset about Pargo wearing Gucci? In February of 2019, social media learned that luxury clothing brand Gucci had included in its fall/winter collection a wool balaclava sweater that resembled blackface. ATL legend and rapper T.I. spoke up about Black people canceling the popular clothing brand. Other celebrities who said they were canceling the brand included 50 Cent, who burned one of his Gucci shirts, and Soulja Boy, who slammed the clothing brand he had rocked for many years during a performance at the High Times Cup in Adelanto, California.
While T.I., 50 Cent, and Soulja Boy may not be down with Gucci anymore, like Pargo, rapper Future isn’t hopping on the cancel train and explained that he will continue to wear the clothing brand because he already spent money on the brand and he believes that spite wasn’t involved when Gucci made the clothing item.
“I bought Gucci before it got canceled, so I’m still gon’ wear it because that’s my money,” he said during an interview on Streetz 94.5. “If you wanna give my money back then we can talk because I’m a businessman. So you can buy my clothes back if you want me not to wear it, but you can’t tell me. Because I don’t feel like they did it out of ill intentions, but it ain’t for me to judge.”
Future also mentioned that many people jumped to conclusions believing that the Gucci designer was trying to be racist.
“Y’all haven’t had no conversation with the designer,” the rapper added. “Y’all don’t know nothing about the background of the designer. The designer momma could be black; the designer daddy could be black, the designer could be black. Like, they don’t even understand. They’re just going off what somebody says in a comment. I can’t go off a comment. I don’t know how to do that. That would be ignorant of me.”
While many MCs are hopping off the Gucci train, except Future coming out and saying that he will still support the brand, rapper Snoop Dogg wants to know if the ban is still in full effect.
Snoop Dogg spotted some Black people sporting the brand at the Met Gala in New York in May 2019.
“I saw some n—- wearing Gucci the other day, so is the ban off or not?” he asked in an Instagram video posted on May 8. “Y’all gotta let me know, ’cause I got a bunch of sh– in here that I ain’t gave away yet,” he added. “N—– wearing Gucci again or not? ‘Cause y’all ain’t say nothing about them n—– who had it on the other night. If I wear it y’all gonna talk sh–? … Let me know when the ban is officially off.”
On fan responded with, “Nah @snoopdogg f–k those who follow trends.” “Let those who love cooning to keep rocking them racist Mfs cloths. They can keep that ugly sh-t. Banned for life.💯”
“Do you uncle….!! F–k what they feel…!!” someone else commented.
Uncle Snoop didn’t say how long he was going to wait to hear from people before he decides to start wearing the brand again.
Naomi Campbell is also another celebrity who still supports Gucci like Future. “I think it’s ridiculous for people to say they were burning their [Gucci] clothes,” she told the Washington Post. “Don’t burn your clothes. It wasn’t intentional. Regardless of what happened, I was always going to Gucci.”
Campbell now sits on the new advisory council for Gucci after the backlash came.
Gucci also launched a diversity and inclusion plan, and a scholarship for fashion education to help get “more diverse talent in North America to access the industry.” It looks like it’s 50/50 when it comes to celebrities still supporting Gucci.
