Florence Pugh, the English actress came to prominence after starring in the drama Lady Macbeth back in 2016, when she was only 20 years of age. But her most renowned project was starring in The Little Drummer Girl. She gained popularity at a very young age and influenced thousands of people over social media. During her early teenage days, Florence Pugh posted a photo on social media that was culturally inappropriate and had to suffer the backlash after many years, as many were quite offended by her post of braided hair along with painted beanies.
Florence Pugh’s Post of Braided Hairs and Painted Beanie
A few years ago, in 2020, when Florence Pugh had just made a solid platform in the Hollywood industry, she was dragged down when she was called out by her fan for “Cultural Appropriation”. The event goes back many years, in 2016, when Florence Pugh braided her hair along with painting the Jamaican flag on a beanie and uploaded it on her social media. After she was called out, Pugh suffered severe backlash and the Black Widow actor publicly apologized for her immature behavior and claimed that she was not familiar with the cultural boundaries at that time.
She went on to explain that she did not know the meaning of “Cultural Awareness”, moreover, she did not even hear the word until she was 18 and coincidentally came across the word when she showed off her cornrow hairstyle to her friend in school and she explained that it was culturally inappropriate for her to do this. She then realized how wrong she was up till now, and claimed that she was completely unaware of its importance. At that time, Pugh only cared about fashion and the trend, and not the culture and importance behind it.
Florence Pugh Blames It on Her White Fragility
After all this happened Pugh made an Instagram post on her official account with a lengthy message, and explained herself along with her misdeeds during her youth, and readily apologized for it. She wrote that when her friend explained the situation to her, the history behind the origin of the hairstyle, and all the hardships, mockery, and judgment that dark-skinned people have to go through, she was completely heartbroken by her actions and claimed to copy them only to look cool. She wrote,
“It was true. I could see how Black culture was being so obviously exploited. I was defensive and confused, white fragility coming out plain and simple. I didn’t want to upset anyone and was perplexed as to how I hadn’t heard this term before.”
Florence Pugh’s primary reason for conveying her thoughts on this matter was so that she could apologize to all those people whom she offended and hurt and called out that the whites’ privilege was the sole reason she did not apologize sooner. She added that she was hit with white fragility which clouded her judgments and simultaneously she was also embarrassed for her actions.
Source: Instagram | Florence Pugh
