Social media users are accusing Ariana Grande of ‘Asian fishing’ — trying to look Asian — after she posted a series of photos on Instagram that she has since deleted.
In the photos, the 28-year-old singer wears a blazer, a neckerchief, and tights, and has her hair pulled back with a ribbon.
Her makeup looks airbrushed on, with rosy cheeks, red lips, pink lids, and winged eyeliner.
But some people were struck by Ariana’s face in the photos, saying she appeared to be of Asian ethnicity — and they’ve accused her of doing it on purpose, perhaps to appeal more to Asian fans.
Social media users are accusing Ariana Grande of ‘Asian fishing’ – trying to look Asian – after she posted a series of photos on Instagram that she has since deleted
In the photos, the 28-year-old wears a blazer, a neckerchief, and tights. Her makeup looks airbrushed on, with rosy cheeks, red lips, pink lids, and winged eyeliner
The term ‘Asian fishing’ is used to described behavior of someone who is not Asian but tries to look like they are, either with makeup, posing, clothes, or photo-editing.
It is a twist on catfishing, in which people create fake personas and trick people into believing they’re real online.
After Ariana shared the photos this month, several critics took to social media to accuse her of crafting an East Asian ‘look’ on purpose.
‘Ariana grande asianfishing??? i’m genuinely so upset over this it’s so sickening can she f***ing not??’ wrote one.
‘Ariana Grande hijacking Korean aesthetic is F***IN’ WEIRD and class A #asianfishing and idgaf how good the chick sings, this doesn’t get a pass,’ said another.
After Ariana shared the photos this month, several critics took to social media to accuse her of crafting an East Asian ‘look’ on purpose
Several posted TikTok videos calling her out, while one Tiwtter user compared her to Rachel Dolezal
Ariana Grande really said “ok fine I’m done pretending to be Hispanic, I’ll pretend to be Asian this time,”‘ wrote a third.
‘Literally wtf is this… bc i know Ariana grande is not trying to go from black fishing to asian fishing,’ yet another critic chimed in.
‘Ariana Grande rebranding as asian makes perfect sense when you realize she got the tan at the height of reggaeton and latin pop crossover and now K-pop is the new hotness,’ posited someone else.
Another person added: ‘It irritates me so much that people still defend ariana grande after all the stuff she’s done, first black fishing, making fun of native culture with her friends, now asianfishing?? very weird that you ariana toe suckers STILL think she’s all innocent.’
The term ‘Asian fishing’ is used to described behavior of somonee who is not Asian but triee to look like they are, either with makeup, posing, clothes, or photo-editing
One critic even compared her to Rachel Doelzal, the while woman who lived for years pretending to be black.
The backlash has made it to TikTok, as well, where several people have made videos calling Ariana out.
‘It’s a combination of the innocent posing and the little bows and s***, even the color of her lipstick,’ user @kuzumi.n said.
Ariana has not addressed the backlash, but she has deleted the photos from Instagram, indicating that she is aware of it.
Not everyone is being critical of the pop star, though, with some taking to social media to defend her.