The French musician is under fire after appearing to mock the hairstyle of Christina's 10-year-old daughter with The-Dream, Violet, in an Instagram Story video.
- April 3, 2020
AceShowbiz - Christina Milian's boyfriend Matt Pokora has enraged people for seemingly mocking her daughter Violet's Bantu knots. In a video posted on his Instagram Stories on early Thursday, April 2, the French musician appeared to compare Violet's hairstyle to coronavirus.
In the said video, Matt filmed Violet who was sitting alone on a couch. He then zoomed in to Violet's head. Matt didn't say anything in the clip, while Violet looked puzzled as she asked him, "What are you doing?"
The 35-year-old singer/songwriter then posted the video on his social media page with a microbe emoji, which has been used to represent the coronavirus on social media, a crying laughing emoji and a heart. He also drew an arrow from the microbe emoji to the Bantu knots on Violet's head.
The video has since been deleted from Matt's page, after he received backlash for it. While some thought that it was a joke and was harmless, others considered him rude for not knowing the history of the culturally significant hairstyle.
Bantu knots originated from Southern and Central Africa over 100 years ago. The name comes from 300-600 ethnic groups who speak the Bantu language. It's a protective style that can be used for stretching, maintaining moisture, adding curls all the while honoring African culture.
One person slammed Matt, "Matt Pokoro f**k him to compare his stepdaughter's (Bantu Knot) hairstyle to the COVID-19 virus. And to say that he has a child with a racialized person. I can't even imagine education."
"What Matt Pokora has done is extremely serious and the people who will come to defend it say that we are exaggerating frankly," another weighed in. Someone else added, "Matt Pokora I want to play down telling me that he didn't do this badly but he compared an Afro hairstyle to a disease ... the hair of her beautiful daughter..."
Another person, however, has come to Matt's defense as commenting, "Controversy over Matt Pokora's snap? Concentrate and lead the good fights please. It's light I think."
Matt has not responded to the criticism.
