Blake Lively usually makes news for her banter with her husband Ryan Reynolds, or her stellar performances, but there was a time when the actress made headlines for sparking a huge controversy.
In 2016, Lively posted a couple of pictures on Instagram, flaunting her curves while wearing a golden gown on the Cannes red carpet. While she looked drop-dead gorgeous in the look, the caption of her post sparked outrage among fans.
When Blake Lively’s ‘Oakland Booty’ Post Sparked Outrage For Racism
In May 2016, Blake Lively attended the Cannes Film Festival sporting a sparkling Atelier Versace gown with a long train. The Gossip Girl alum shared a pair of pictures from the event on her Instagram, displaying the front and back of her gown, and captioned the post, “L.A. face with an Oakland booty.”
she CANNOT be serious pic.twitter.com/XR5mkq7vSV
— Gaby Wilson (@GabrielleWilson) May 18, 2016
However, the caption did not go down well with the fans as it was said to be having racial overtones. The quote was taken from rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot’s track ‘Baby Got Back’, which was already considered problematic. Fans started to criticize Lively, believing that she used ‘the bodies of women of color as a punchline.’
However, the actress decided not to delete the post at the time and stuck with it. Sir Mix-A-Lot then also joined the debate and supported Lively. “For her to look at her butt and that little waist and to say ‘L.A. face with an Oakland booty,’ doesn’t that mean that the norm has changed, that the beautiful people have accepted our idea of beautiful?” he said in an interview.
Lively Later Said She Didn’t Want to Offend Anyone
A month after the backlash, Lively opened up about the whole fiasco in an interview, revealing that she did not want to offend anyone and just wanted to celebrate her body. “It’s something I was proud of. I never meant to offend anyone,” the actress said in an interview on Shade 45, adding, “I would never want to hurt anyone’s feelings or upset anyone. I was celebrating my body. It’s nice to have a nice curve and not look like you’re starving to death.” The post was eventually deleted from Lively’s Instagram account.
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