aespa Giselle Accused of Racism After Allegedly Mocking Desi Culture
Following their showcase in Los Angeles, aespa member Giselle is drawing criticism from fans and has been accused of racism after she allegedly mocked the Desi culture.
Keep on reading to know more.
aespa Giselle Embroiled in Racism Accusations After Allegedly Mocking Desi Culture
Recently, four-piece girl group aespa held the first show of their showcase, "SYNK," at the Youtube Theater in Los Angeles, United States on June 26. During the event, aespa performed their hit songs "Black Mamba," "Next Level," and "Savage." They also performed "Lucid Dream," "aenergy," and their pre-released songs "Illusion" and "Life's Too Short."
The members also received praise for their performance, with many pointing out that the group improved in terms of live performances.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: aespa's Live Vocals at Coachella 2022 Spark Divided Reactions
In between their performances, aespa also took the time to chat and have fun with fans MYs (aespa's fandom). At one point, Karina, Winter, Giselle, and NingNing tried out some of the latest Tiktok dance challenges, such as the "Jiggle Jiggle" challenge which many K-Pop idols have also done.
However, one action of Giselle caught the eye of many.
As the members were doing the dance challenge on stage, Giselle ended up adding her own spin to the choreography. At the line "relax," one would usually bend one leg up and put their arms behind their head to represent the lyric.
But when aespa did this part, Giselle ended up doing a different move than the original choreography. Giselle stood in the same position of bending her legs. However, she changed the choreography by connecting her index finger and thumb while moving her head from side-side.
aespa Giselle allegedly mocked Desi culture
After doing the dance move, she started laughing, seemingly in embarrassment. To some, Giselle's actions were just improv. Yet, many thought it was a dance from Desi (Indian) culture.
Fans who saw this criticized the idol and accused Giselle of being racist, as they deemed her actions a mockery of Desi culture and their traditional dance, Bharatanatyam.
However, many have also stepped up to defend Giselle. Fans stated that Giselle's religion is Buddhism, and that such gestures is also present in the religion. While others argued that Giselle was doing a yoga pose.
Despite that, many continued to criticize the aespa member, and even brought up her past controversy in which she mouthed a racial slur.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: aespa Giselle Issues Apology for Lip Syncing Racial Slur
What do you think of the issue?
aespa Joins Lineup for 'Good Morning America' Summer Concert
On June 27 local time, popular American talk show "Good Morning America" announced that aespa has joined the lineup for their 2022 Summer Concert Series as the openinc act. on July 8.
aespa
Aside from aespa, this year's lineup includes Megan Thee Stallion, OneRepublic, Demi Lovato, Black Eyed Peas, and Ozuna.
This also marks aespa as the second K-Pop act to participate in the event, following BTS who performed back in 2019 and 2021.
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Written by Robyn Joan
