LONDON: Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram has found herself in hot water after being accused of racism for putting on blackface for a “prank.”
To celebrate her 39th birthday, Ajram filmed a video of herself walking down the streets of Lebanon’s capital Beirut with her skin darkened by makeup and wearing a dark curly wig to see if people would recognize her.
In the clip, she carried out everyday tasks such as shopping, going to a cafe, asking for directions, and eating dinner with a friend. During the meal, she removed her makeup to reveal her identity and took photos with fans.
Throughout the video, curious passers-by could be seen staring at Ajram.
But after posting the video on social media, Ajram faced a deluge of criticism for her prank and was asked to apologize.
In a tweet, Arab disability activist, Abla Abdelhadi, said Ajram’s actions were ill-timed coming so soon after racist shootings in Buffalo, in the US, that left 10 people dead.
Also in a tweet, black-Palestinian activist, Samah Fadil, said that “considering people with my skin tone or darker some kind of joke worthy of a prank,” must have been “very embarrassing” for Ajram.
In 2018, another Lebanese singer Myriam Fares was slammed on social media over a music video scene in which she appeared with a black face.
Blackface is considered a racist and derogatory representation of black people and appropriation of black culture. It has a long history both in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.
In the West, blackface is now widely rejected but it continues to play a role in popular culture in parts of the Middle East. The makeup and curly or braided wigs have been used on Lebanese and Egyptian television to poke fun at domestic workers and Sudanese people.
