*Blake Lively’s attempt to use the famous Sir Mix-A-Lot line “L.A. face with an Oakland booty” to describe herself has sparked accusations of racism and a rather lively debate on social media over whether this is false outrage.
The actress posted side-by-side front and back shots of herself on the red carpet in Cannes, where she appeared with the cast of her Woody Allen film “Café Society.” In the caption, she wrote the rapper’s line from his 1992 hit, “Baby Got Back” Based on the interpretation of his lyrics, Lively is saying she has a pretty face and a fat booty.
The post has received more than 600,000 likes, but a large portion believes it is racially insensitive. Jezebel writer J.E. Reich summarized the root of the outrage: “In the end, it touts a diametrical opposition: that Los Angeles can be equated to elegance and/or beauty (read: whiteness), and that Oakland is its foil (read: blackness).”
See reactions for and against Blake’s post below:
Another day, another rich white woman using WOC’s bodies as a punchline and commodity. As if Blake Lively wasn’t the worst already.
— Kat Bee (@katbeee) May 18, 2016
re: “it’s just song lyrics” https://t.co/6Jtpfo2FbN pic.twitter.com/N02mNgQ97o
— Gaby Wilson (@GabrielleWilson) May 18, 2016
@blakelively instead of your Oakland booty tell us more about how Woody Allen empowers women and the abuse allegations are not your business
— fadumo (@faaaadumo) May 18, 2016
This is a reminder that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds got married on a plantation where slave cabins still stand. pic.twitter.com/9rbKXH2WDc
— Melissa Radzimski (@melissaradz) May 18, 2016
People are mad at @blakelively‘s Instagram caption? Oh come now..She has a delicious ass! Flaunt the hell out of that beauty my friend..
— Δustiη♠Шəstmoore™ (@Mr_Westmoore) May 19, 2016
https://t.co/Y437MB3Fd4 “implying that people from Oakland with fat asses are black” so who’s really racist? pic.twitter.com/zS8OzuW7Vs
— Roberto (@FunkyFreedom) May 19, 2016
Why Are We Mad At Blake Lively Instead Of Sir Mix-A-Lot? https://t.co/29A8eox4If
— Veronica Wells (@VDubShrug) May 19, 2016
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