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Justin Bieber Is Being Called Out For Cultural Appropriation After Debuting Dreads

These days, Justin Bieber could snip a lock of hair from the back of his head and send Instagram into meltdown so it’s no surprise that a few photos of his new dreadlocks posted over the weekend have people bothered.

Despite plenty of press surrounding cultural appropriation and dreadlocks over the past few years, Bieber has turned his trademark fringe into dreads sparking a debate on Instagram.

While there’s a lot of “you look so good” and “<3” to wade through, there are a number of people attempting to explain to those who don’t understand why this is cultural appropriation.

“People are annoyed cause when black people where [sic] this style they are stereotyped as druggies and are “unkempt” look at Zendaya for example,” one user wrote.

“She had fake dreads and she was stereotyped. But when people such as jb, Kylie Jenner wear them its [sic] suddenly ‘the latest trend’ do you get what im [sic] saying.”

Singer Zendaya was slammed by E! fashion critic Giuliana Rancic after wearing dreads to the Oscars. At the time Rancic said that the dreads make her look like she may smell like weed.

The Biebs was also surrounded by controversy for similar reasons when he wore cornrows early last year. He also defended Kylie Jenner’s right to do so saying, “Let’s focus on the bigger picture and instead of fighting over something stupid let’s do something about equality, but it doesn’t start here blasting a 17-year-old kid for wearing braids smh.”

Bieber is obviously not paying much attention to the dread controversy as he followed up his initial selfie with three more. He also performed at the #iHeartAwards earlier today sporting the hairdo.

Why

A photo posted by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on

Watch: Justin Bieber – Love Yourself/Company (Live At The #iHeartAwards)

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