Recording artist Rita Ora has been accused of "blackfishing" by Twitter users who discovered her Albanian roots in a viral call out tweet on Monday (August 10).
"Finding out Rita Ora isn't black at all and both of her parents are white Albanians is so trippy. The girl's BEEN blackfishing," wrote the original Twitter user.
The tweet has sparked a conversation about cultural appropriation and blackfishing, which is when a non-Black person styles their hair, makeup and other physical elements in a way to purposefully appear Black. Re-surfaced photos of Ora wearing an afro and box braids show how often she regularly wears hairstyles popularized by Black women.
Despite the comments, the singer has been vocal about her race and background in the past. Her family fled war-torn Albania in 1991, after which they lived as refugees in London.
During an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show in 2016, Williams said, “I thought you were half-Black and half-white, or something like that,” to which Ora replied, “Everybody usually does. I might as well be. But no, I'm Albanian.”
Fans continue to share their thoughts on Twitter.
Ora has not yet commented.