Justin Bieber Is Being Accused Of Cultural Appropriation After Putting His Hair In Locs

Bieber has a history of being accused of profiting off of Black culture, like how his recent Justice album sampled a speech from Martin Luther King Jr. without context before transitioning into a track about how much he loves his (white) wife. But the latest outcry comes from his new, allegedly culturally appropriating hairstyle. Bieber revealed he got his hair loc’d this week, and people are understandably mad about it.

Bieber has been very active on social media this week. He’s currently filming a video for his 21 Savage and DJ Khaled collaboration “Let It Go,” and apparently decided to take on a new hairstyle for it. Bieber shared several photos of his hair in locs, a style that has been very central to the conversation about cultural appropriation in the last ten-plus years. Loc’d hair has cultural and historical significance for Black people, not to mention that it’s an easy way to protect against hair damage.

After showing off his new hairdo on social media, people were quick to call him out for cultural appropriation.

https://twitter.com/mademeplay/status/1388989782081081344

https://twitter.com/offmysuga/status/1388598520937123843

https://twitter.com/undressurgirl/status/1386704014918684672

Several people drew comparisons to the doll from Rugrats and even movie The Grinch.

https://twitter.com/kelsey_boswell/status/1389665176757100547

But this isn’t even the first time he’s received backlash for a similar hairstyle. Bieber first loc’d and dyed his hair back in 2016, which he also drew accusations of cultural appropriation for.