Lifestyle Celebrity

Lalla apologises for offending coloureds

Staff Reporter|Published

UPROAR: Lalla imitated coloured vrou UPROAR: Lalla imitated coloured vrou

Local TV personality Lalla Hirayama has issued an apology following the backlash she faced over a video in which she made gat of a coloured woman rapping to the MC Hammer hit Too Legit to Quit.

The 32-year-old presenter was called out by users for using stereotypes of coloured women to get cheap laughs on video platform TikTok.

In the video, she parodies the lyrics: “Too legit, too legit to quit, die boer se pit, die boer se pit is wit, gie my tappy want tappy maak my happy, gie my gin want dagga maak my dun, gie my bier want buur maak my suur.”

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/Lalla_Hirayama?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lalla_Hirayamarun out of ideas, she decides to make Coloured women the butt end of her pathetic jokes. pic.twitter.com/HZ0hIlheKj

— ContainsNuts (@NutsContains)

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the Japanese-South African star wrote: “I made a TikTok video on Tuesday which was offensive to some of my fellow South Africans.

“Moreover, I was not sensitive to the climate in SA as we prepare to enter the 4th week of isolation together. I will be more aware of our collective context.

“TikTok is a new platform that many of us are learning how to apply ourselves to. It is satirical in nature and my warning to others using the platform is, despite the mechanic relying on you impersonating others, that in the South African context we must always respect the cultural nuances of our countrymen.

“My efforts were intended only to be entertaining, to share some uniquely South African ‘thing’ we celebrate as part of what makes us so good at overcoming adversity when the chips are low. I am sorry to know that it angered people.

“I am aware that my understanding of the TikTok post was potentially short-sighted, I will never be able to take that back. It was not meant to offend any race.

“I will however, continue to learn as much as I can everyday about the rich diversity in South Africa.”

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