Ariana Grande Claps Back At Claims She Appropriated Japanese Culture With Botched Tattoo

Ariana Grande took to Twitter to post a bunch of now deleted apologetic and explanatory messages after she was accused of cultural appropriation due to getting a Japanese language tattoo on her hand.

Ariana Grande, 25, defended herself on Twitter after she was accused by some people of cultural appropriation when she got a Japanese tattoo that she later had to fix. Last week, Ariana revealed the hand tattoo, which was supposed to read the title of her latest single “7 Rings” in Japanese Kanji, the same language that appeared in the music video for the song. Unfortunately, there was a mix up, and although the characters in the tattoo do translate to “seven” and “ring” if they’re labeled separately, when they come together it’s quite different. The singer’s tattoo simply reads, “shichirin”, which is a type of Japanese BBQ grill! Ariana apologized for the mistake and even admitted she tried to fix it with the help of a Japanese tutor but it just ended up getting worse and now roughly translates to “shichirin finger”.

Although Ariana owned up to the embarrassing mix up, some critics couldn’t help but slam the star for what they thought was exploiting Japanese culture. They spoke out about how they think she shouldn’t be permanently putting another language that she doesn’t understand on her body just because she likes how it looks. In a series of now deleted tweets, Ariana recently took the time share her side of the story and stand up for herself at the same time.

“I can’t read or write Kanji obviously,” one of her tweets read in response to a follower who said she should apologize for the tattoo mistake. “What do you want me to do? It was done out of love and appreciation. What do you want me to say?” She went on to credit herself for admitting to the mishap and apologizing for it, which she feels some other people in her position wouldn’t bother doing. “u kno how many people make this mistake and DON’T care just cause they like how it looks? bruh…i care soooo much. what would u like me to do or say? forreal,” another one of her tweets read.

Ariana also claimed she has nothing but love and appreciation for her Japanese fans and the Japanese culture. “there is a difference between appropriation and appreciation. my japanese fans were always excited when i wrote in japanese or wore japanese sayings on my clothing. however, all of the merch with japanese on it was taken down from my site not that anyone cared to notice.” Lastly, Ariana touched upon her anxiety and how the negative feedback about her tattoo is affecting her.

“i have crippling anxiety lol,” her tweet began. “i don’t like hurtin ppl. people on this app really don’t know how to be forgiving or gentle when someone has made an innocent mistake. no one considers feelings other than their own. it’s very pointless. ion even know why i’m talking ab this anymore.”

Source: Read Full Article