Has Awkwafina been cancelled? Inside the Shang-Chi star’s ‘blaccent’ controversy – from accusations of cultural appropriation in Crazy Rich Asians to leaving Twitter after an ‘insincere’ apology

Golden Globe winner and Marvel actor Awkwafina – born Nora Lum – recently quit Twitter after being called out for misappropriating a “blaccent”, or black accent, throughout her career. However, this was not the first time fans and internet users alike have brought up the issue to The Farewell star. She was already getting criticised when she first launched her career with the hit NSFW parody rap song, My Vag. She then struggled to respond to a reporter’s question about the criticism during last year’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings press event. In an attempt to respond to the criticism, the rapper and comedian wrote a lengthy explanation on her Twitter account before quitting social media platform. She acknowledged that she has been misusing “African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in different contexts, including on social media and in music”, as quoted from CNN. Meet Victoria and David Beckham’s son-to-be in-laws, the Peltz family pic.twitter.com/pxSLXZD2J0 — nora (@awkwafina) February 5, 2022 “But as a non-black POC [person of colour], I stand by the fact that I will always listen and work tirelessly to understand the history and context of AAVE, what is deemed appropriate or backwards toward the progress of any and every marginalised group,” she clarified, adding further: “But I must emphasise: to mock, belittle or to be unkind in any way possible at the expense of others is: simply. Not. My. Nature. It never has, and it never was.” The 33-year-old then announced that she will leave the platform, but will still be available on other social media platforms that “don’t tell you to kill yourself!”. So what exactly happened? Here’s the breakdown on the ongoing scandal surrounding Awkwafina. Crazy Rich Asians and dodging the critics Awkwafina started her career as a rap artist. In 2012, the young star debuted with her controversial song My Vag, a parody cover of a Mickey Avalon’s song My Dick, complete with her “Asian gangster” alter ego. However, she gained mainstream popularity after portraying Peik Lin in the global hit film Crazy Rich Asians (2018). She played the main character’s best friend, a Singaporean national who for some reason has a “blaccent”. Obamas take Hollywood! Inside Malia and Sasha’s new Los Angeles lives Culture critic Lauren Michelle Jackson wrote on her performance for Vulture: “[She slides] in and out of a grammar that speeds past certain consonants, utilises the habitual ‘be’, and takes on a twang with danks and struggles aplenty.” She added that, “Peik Lin’s flirtation with black vernacular, along with the character’s general swagger, clinches the case, and another buzzword enters the frame: appropriation, a word that now commonly connotes knowing cultural theft.” Fans came to her rescue back then and regarded the criticism simply as an environmental factor: she developed the accent due to her childhood growing up in Queens in New York City. However, that story slowly began to unravel … Dropping the “blaccent” whenever convenient As quoted from Alyssa Shotwell for The Mary Sue, Awkwafina “changed out of AAVE on occasion”. Shotwell also pointed out that the star completely dropped the vernacular while doing press for her award-winning film The Farewell (2019). “All of a sudden, she dropped the AAVE just in time to contend in award season,” Shotwell wrote. “She made it, and she didn’t need to hold up a facade any more. She became Nora Lum again.” Lum told The New York Times that her moniker Awkwafina is a made-up persona and one that “she’s still hesitant to shed”. It puzzles me that Awkwafina still has not acknowledged how she has used Black culture to her benefit. This refusal to own up exacerbates audiences that want to support her. A statement is not career suicide. There will be no boycott. Why refuse the chance to demonstrate empathy? https://t.co/kfqcyuXJSp — William Yu 유규호 (@its_willyu) August 17, 2019 The same year also saw the viral tweet from Korean-American screenwriter William Yu who pointed out her cultural misappropriation, too. “It puzzles me that Awkwafina still has not acknowledged how she has used black culture to her benefit,” he wrote. “This refusal to own up exacerbates audiences that want to support her. A statement is not career suicide. There will be no boycott. Why refuse the chance to demonstrate empathy?” Before Camila Morrone: 10 much younger women Leonardo DiCaprio has dated A vague answer during Shang-Chi’s press tour Her past controversies re-emerged after the release of Marvel Studios’ Asian-led Shang-Chi last year, when a flurry of discussion and debates returned on social media. Awkwafina didn’t make things any easier either when she fumbled, almost hesitantly, to reply when asked by Reuters about her “blaccent” criticism. In the now viral tweet with over 9,000 likes, the Hollywood star replied, “Um … You know, I’m open to the conversation. I think it really is something that I think is a little bit multifaceted and layered and so … yeah.” .@awkwafina addresses controversy of her using a ‘blaccent’ in films: pic.twitter.com/razgNiTFke — Reuters Showbiz (@ReutersShowbiz) September 10, 2021 Awkwafina was also criticised for using a “blaccent” for comedic effect in her other high-profile film Ocean’s Eight (2018). However, she scaled it back again and dropped the vernacular for her comedy show Nora from Queens (2020). Inside Tom Holland and Zendaya’s not-so-secret romance Her insincere apology on Twitter? This brings us back to the now infamous “apology” post that has garnered over 5,000 likes on Twitter at the time of writing. While Awkwafina posted the tweet to address the criticism, many believed it lacked empathy and decorum, especially after she followed up the four tweets with: “To clarify: I am retiring from the ingrown toenail that is Twitter. Not retiring from anything else, even if I wanted to, and I didn’t drunkenly hit someone with a shoehorn and now escaping as a fugitive.” She also mentioned that she will be back on the platform in several years as per her therapist’s recommendation and ended it with: “I apologise if I ever fell short in anything I did.” Well, I’ll see you in a few years, Twitter - per my therapist. To my fans, thank you for continuing to love and support someone who wishes they could be a better person for you. I apologize if I ever fell short, in anything I did. You’re in my heart always ❤️ — nora (@awkwafina) February 5, 2022 However, some fans still came to her rescue despite the backlash. One Twitter user wrote, “Girl, you’re doing fine. You’re a woman from Queens who sounds exactly like every other person from Queens that I’ve ever met.” Others, meanwhile, tried to explain why her “blaccent” vernacular is harmful: “People outside the culture get praised or seem like they’re cooler for using AAVE. But when black people used it, they were looked at as if we’re ghetto, uneducated, etc.” Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.