Much-anticipated 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will take place for the first time in Shanghai, China later this year – with their angels in lacy underwear strutting down the catwalk. However, there is one uninvited angel who had enraged PRC netizens by a video perceived as racist.
On Wednesday(August 30), 22-year-old American Gigi Hadid, one of the most influential models in the world, announced on Instagram that she is set to be walking at the show. In the blink of an eye, her post was bombarded by a backlash from Chinese netizens, warning her: “Don’t come to Shanghai. You’re not welcome here. Screw off!”
Earlier this year, a video was posted by her sister, Bella Hadid, who is also a fellow model, featuring the two sisters toying with a cookie – believed to be Bhudda-looking, and fooling with squinty eyes. She was accused of mocking Asian people when the video went viral.
The video, originally uploaded on Snapchat, was soon deleted, but the Internet grabbed it quickly before it turned into ash.
Here’s the video:
this is y'all woke palestine queen? Gigi out here mocking Asian people. i would say she's cancelled but she never started. rat @GiGiHadid pic.twitter.com/b6wj5k1sXE
— . (@hvrrystime) February 5, 2017
Instagram commenters started flooding her account with snakes and chicken, which symbolise derogatory terms for women in Chinese, telling her “don’t come,” BuzzFeed first reported.
3 days ago (September 1), Gigi made a public apology in both Chinese and English on her Weibo account.
Many netizens are skeptical about her sincerity because the incidence took place way back in February.
A Weibo comment “liked” over 13,000 times (shown below) says, “she didn’t respond anything regarding Chinese shaming earlier. Now she’s apologising because she’s facing resistance. Please don’t buy into her tricks, silly fans.”
Another comment says her eyes are equally squinty.
About 50 models from around the world are set to attend the festivities, including Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, Gigi Hadid, Lily Aldridge, Behati Prinsloo, and, we presume, all the Chinese models that the brand has under contract, such as Liu Wen and Ming Xi.
It is unsure whether the gorgeous would pull out of the iconic fashion show over online backlash, which does not look like child’s play.