Social media influencer and YouTuber Emma Chamberlain has apologized after being called out for her recent Instagram post which shows her making a slant-eye gesture.
Chamberlain explained in a Twitter post on Monday that it was not her intention to post something insensitive on social media and had apologized to the people who were hurt by the picture, BuzzFeed reported.
its come to my attention that some thought i was posing in an insensitive way in my recent instagram post. that was NOT my intention at all and im so sorry to those who were hurt by it. i love and appreciate you all so much
— emma (@emmachamberlain) June 21, 2020
The picture, which has been deleted from her Instagram account, shows Chamberlain with both her hands on her cheeks and appearing to pull back her eyes.
“It’s come to my attention that some thought I was posing in an insensitive way in my recent Instagram post,” the social media star, who has over 9.5 million followers on Instagram, said. “That was NOT my intention at all and I’m so sorry to those who were hurt by it.”
However, some social media users were not pleased with her apology, mainly for the lack of sincerity and staying silent for a few days.
how was this an apology?? its not my place to accept it anyways but im just gonna say this is a terrible apology. cant u say more than that?? u hurt alot of ppl :/
— cody (@lemonsgardi) June 21, 2020
anyways yeah shouldn’t have taken 3 days if that’s all you came up with lmao even your stans are tired
— lily (@HEARTFULGRANT) June 21, 2020
PLEASE do better and address things sooner next time. it only hurts more to your supporters if you stay silent
— ruby 🎗 (@joyrichethan) June 21, 2020
Others talked about how this turned into a trend made by non-Asian people.
it’s the gesture itself that we find offensive bc non asian people have been pulling their eyes back for years to make fun of natural asian eye shapes. the pose has been appropriated by white women to be “trendy” & a symbol of beauty when really it’s a symbol of oppression for us
— giselle | BLM (@dolansbde) June 21, 2020
personally as an asian, emma chamberlain’s post made me uncomfortable. the whole “fox eye” trend isn’t cute in general. people have been slanting their eyes as a way to mock asians for years and i’ve literally had people purposely slant their eyes when i tell them i’m asian. pic.twitter.com/JOS122Pg4I
— rocelle (@faiyholland) June 21, 2020
Some comments defending Chamberlain and instructing Asian people on what is offensive or not were also called out.
y’all really defending emma chamberlain for posting a pic mocking asian eyes? don’t tell asian ppl if they should be offended or not and know the “aesthetic” pose has been used to mock asian eyes for years
— joey🥦 (@f_cksht) June 21, 2020
Chamberlain was also accused of doing blackface after a picture from one of her old videos surfaced.
— emma (@emmachamberlain) June 21, 2020
Chamberlain explained she accidentally grabbed a wrong shade of makeup when she was recording the video.
“I want to give some context,” she said. “This was in a video where I was giving myself a makeover using dollar store products. I grabbed the wrong shade by accident and didn’t realize the shade was incorrect until I was already putting it on.”
Feature Image via @emmachamberlain
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