Farrah Abraham caused a stir during Sunday night’s MTV Movie & TV Awards after she appeared on the red carpet wearing a Bollywood-inspired outfit, complete with henna art (mehndi) on her hands and a bindi on her forehead.
Almost instantly, the “Teen Mom” star faced criticism from people on Twitter who called her out for cultural appropriation. As you may know, Abraham is not Indian, nor is she a Bollywood star.
Abraham didn’t seem too concerned about the backlash though, telling TooFab that she wanted to “bring culture” to the red carpet and thought her look would “inspire others to embrace new cultures and have good experiences.”
She also said her outfit, which is admittedly beautiful on its own, made her feel “freaking amazing, Bollywood and sexy.”
Still, we can all agree that adopting another culture’s traditional dress and stripping it of context diminishes it to nothing more than a costume. (Has Abraham learned nothing from Selena Gomez or Vanessa Hudgens?)