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When Blake Lively hit ‘share’ on what she thought was just a funny post about herself at the Cannes Film Festival last month, she had no idea it would cause a storm of controversy and see her accused of being racist.
But that’s what happened when users saw she’d captioned two pictures of herself on the red carpet in a figure-hugging dress – one from the front, one from behind – “L.A face with an Oakland booty”.
It angered many on social media, who said by using the line from Sir-Mix-a-Lot’s 1992 track “Baby Got Back”, she was appropriating black culture and exploiting her privilege as a rich, white woman.
She didn’t take down the post or make any comment on the furore, and soon after Sir-Mix-a-Lot himself came out in defence of the Café Society star, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the intention of the song was to make black women feel good about themselves, and that Blake using the line was a positive thing.
But at last, the woman at the centre of it all has finally spoken, saying on American hip-hop radio program Shade 45 that she was merely “celebrating” her body.
“It’s something I was proud of,” she said. “I never meant to offend anyone. But Sir Mix-A-Lot, he actually said a really nice thing, he was very defensive and kind, because it’s just about celebrating women’s bodies, and that’s what I was doing.”
“I would never want to hurt anyone’s feelings or upset anyone,” she continued. “I was celebrating my body … It’s nice to have a nice curve and not look like you’re starving to death.”
The 28-year-old, who is expecting her second child with Ryan Reynolds, is on the publicity trail for her latest film The Shallows, a suspense horror flick set in Australia that sees her stalked by a Great white shark and looks absolutely terrifying.
