“Crazy Rich Asians” actress Awkwafina has finally spoken about her awful “blaccent” after being asked about it in a recent interview.
And it was pretty awkward.
Speaking to Reuters Showbiz, she said, “Um… You know, I’m open to the conversation.” She added, “I think it really is something that I think is a little bit multi-faceted and layered, and so… yeah.”
So… she didn’t actually address it.
The star is accused of adopting the “blaccent” early on in her career, where she was also a rapper, but the blaccent disappeared once she made it to Hollywood.
Awkwafina is not the only celebrity guilty of using a blaccent. White rapper Iggy Azalea also managed to get away with using a weird blaccent in her raps throughout her entire rap career.
She recently retired.
And as they have done with Iggy, the Black community has taken exception to Awkwafina’s faux accent as she had outright said in the past that she would not ever use a fake Asian accent.
“I’ve walked out of auditions where the casting director all of a sudden changed her mind and asked for accents. I refuse to do accents. And I think like—so far, like a lot of the parts I’ve gone out for have been really real characters and being Asian is not part of their plotline,” she told Vice in 2017.
“I’m OK with having an Asian aspect if it’s done in a genuine way. I’m not OK with someone writing the Asian experience for an Asian character. Like that’s annoying and I make it very clear, I don’t ever go out for auditions where I feel like I’m making a minstrel out of our people.”
She also said of her role in “Neighbors 2”, “They’ll remember me for being Asian. And in that way, people always ask me, what is it like? What are the downfalls? Honestly, there are some, but in the end, [being the only Asian in a cast] makes you memorable. It makes me feel really good if people are seeing it and thinking that’s an Asian bitch, she’s funny and she’s cool.”
