A photo on Ariana Grande's Instagram uploaded Saturday night had some fans outraged, criticizing the celebrity for what they called cultural appropriation.
But the conversation became more complicated when fans realized the American pop star of Italian descent practices Kabbalah, a school of thought believed to have originated from the Middle East.
Some didn't know about her practices.
PROOF SHE PRACTICES KABBALAH now stfu about her culture appropriating pic.twitter.com/mTskNnfFJM
— h (@zustinsdaya) August 9, 2015
Others who thought Kabbalah was irrelevant said henna fell under a cultural practice, not a religious one; Grande had no Middle Eastern background.
religion and culture are two different things uglies.... just because she's kabbalah doesn't make it okay for her to wear henna
— gaby (@buterasdjh) August 9, 2015
@arianacuIt i practiced kabbalah in the 2000s and no, it's not lol
— bella vita (@drugproblem) August 9, 2015
The pop star, in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph last year, said she turned to Kabbalah — a form of mysticism originating from Judaism — when her gay brother was rejected by the Catholic Church.
Regardless, Kabbalah doesn't say anything specifically about its use of henna. Whether Arabs think that qualifies as cultural appropriation is another conversation to have.
By Hayat Norimine