Bella Hadid Accused of Saying the N-Word in Coachella Video

Judging from her Instagram stories over the weekend, Bella Hadid had the time for her life at Coachella 2018. But not everyone is happy with her behavior. Shortly after her time at the Coachella, the 21-year-old was accused on Twitter of saying the N-word while rapping to a Lil Wayne song.

In a video apparently screen-recorded from Hadid’s Instagram stories, the model can be seen standing behind a friend, who records her singing along to Lil Wayne’s “Rich as Fuck.” Due to the loudness of the music, it’s unclear whether Hadid was lip-syncing or actually said the N-word. However, neither is appropriate. As noted by many critics, the use of the N-word by non-black people is a case of cultural appropriation. Considering that Hadid isn’t black, many Twitter users lambasted her for using the word, even if she was rapping to a song.

https://twitter.com/ZJM_Stan_98/status/985302275336916992 https://twitter.com/soIutionburnit/status/985325964384227329 https://twitter.com/melodramasIut/status/985325200366538752 https://twitter.com/hfskinny/status/985466693660094464 https://twitter.com/girIgotagun/status/985304753772158979

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After Hadid’s video went viral, Twitter users dug up old tweets from Hadid of her using the N-word again and writing racially insensitive things about black people. Critics considered the tweets as evidence that Hadid’s use of the N-word at Coachella shouldn’t be surprising.

https://twitter.com/ZJM_Stan_98/status/985323055101677568 https://twitter.com/velourdream/status/985288641202225153

To further evidence Hadid’s problematic behavior, several users also brought up a video of her touching a man and trying to pull his swimsuit down, which critics considered as sexual harassment. The video showed Hadid and her friend in Mykonos trying to pull down the swimsuit of a man, who some think was a male stripper, as he was dancing on a table.

https://twitter.com/vaIcntino/status/985616831187742722 https://twitter.com/wreckinside/status/985658433029464066 https://twitter.com/vaIcntino/status/985617612620124160

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Regardless of whether you think Hadid actually said the N-word or consider her behavior with the male stripper as sexual harassment, the incidents speak to a larger issue. Hadid has more than 17 million Instagram followers and a huge influence, especially among young, impressionable fans, so to give public fodder for criticism isn’t the best idea. She could’ve easily kept her mouth shut during Lil Wayne’s lyric, but chose to mouth or sing along to the song. Hopefully she’s learned something from the criticism.