"Keeping Up With The Kardashians" star Kylie Jenner unknowingly triggered an online racial debate, when she posted a photo of herself on Instagram with her hair in cornrows on July 11, Saturday, after which the reality TV star was slammed by the "The Hunger Games" actress Amandla Stenberg for "appropriating black culture."
The feud started when the 17-year-old reality TV star shared a picture of herself, showing her toned abs and cornrow hairstyle. The pic generated more than 1.2 million likes and more than 1,09,000 comments, owing to the hashtag "whitegirlsdoitbetter," apparently started by the TV star's fans, New York Daily News reported.
However, it seems that the viral pic failed to impress with the teen actress, who took to Instagram to express her anger over the matter.
"@novemberskyys when u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter," wrote the 16-year-old actress in the comment section of the viral pic.
Jenner, who is known for her penchant for ever changing hairstyles, quickly responded to the diss, and reportedly replied, "Mad if I do...mad if I don't. Go hang w Jaden or something." The "KUWTK" star was clearly referring to Jaden Smith, with whom the actress went to her high school prom in May this year, Daily Mail reported.
The heated exchange between the teen stars has eventually triggered a racially charged debate. While some online commentators are debating over the portrayal of black culture by white people while some seems to be unperturbed and unbothered by Jenner's look.
Stenberg made headlines earlier this year, when she released a thought-provoking video, discussing the similar issues of cultural appropriation, titled "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows." In the clip, the actress had cited stars such as Iggy Azalea, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry and said that they tend to adopt black culture as a way of being "edgy and to gain attention."