Gwen Stefani is under fire for defending the Harajuku era in an interview. [The Irish-American and Italian-American was interviewed by Allure to discuss her new GXVE Beauty line. To that end, interviewer Jessa Marie Karaall asked her about her previous beauty brand, Harajuku Lovers, which debuted in 2008.In 2004, Stephanie released the album Love.Angel.Music.Baby. The album is heavily influenced by Japanese culture and includes the song "Harajuku Girls."

Both the album and the beauty line were hits at the time, but Stephanie's role as a white woman selling Japanese-inspired merchandise caused much debate about cultural appropriation.

When asked what she had learned since that time, Stephanie shared a story about how her father worked for Yamaha and visited Japan regularly when she was growing up.

"That was my Japanese influence," she said, "a culture that was rich in tradition but futuristic, very attentive to art, detail, and discipline, and that appealed to me. [Later, as an adult, Stephanie visited Harajuku, Tokyo. I said, 'Oh my God, I'm Japanese and I didn't know that.'"

Karaol said that Stephanie broke the uncomfortable silence at this time by saying, "I am."

She continued, "If [people] are going to criticize me for being a fan of something beautiful and sharing it, I don't think that's right.

"This is a time of ping-pong matches between Harajuku culture and American culture.

"It should be OK to be inspired by other cultures, and if that is not allowed, then that is dividing people, right?"

Karaol, a Filipina-American, described the uncomfortable feeling she had during this interview with Allure's social media assistant, who is Asian and Latina.

Karaol said, "Maybe she misspoke? Over and over again" During the interview, Stephanie claimed twice that she was Japanese and once that she was "a little Orange County girl, a little Japanese girl, a little English girl. Surely she did not mean what she said literally, or perhaps she did not know what she was talking about?

Stephanie's team refused to provide a follow-up statement or interview, but the singer's rep assured her that Karaol had misunderstood Stephanie.

Karaol said, "I don't think Stephanie said anything malicious or hurtful. However, the intent need not be hostile in order for the words to be potentially harmful.

For a journalist, it is clear that Stephanie was complicit in cultural appropriation, and she has a responsibility to recognize that.

Many social media users condemned Stephanie's comments to Allure.

One person tweeted, "Disappointing that Gwen Stefani would choose to double down on Orientalism in 2023. I remember how offended I was by her 'Harajuku Girls' days almost 20 years ago, but before social media, it wasn't so easy to share those feelings."

Someone else asked, "How can Gwen Stefani be Japanese when actual Asians are not allowed to be American?

"What is absurd is not only her statement, but the hypocrisy of allowing rich white people to make outrageous claims with little backlash while POC struggle to exist."

Writer Roxane Gay quipped, "Gwen Stefani's publicist must be busy today."

Meanwhile, Allure site director Sam Escobar wrote, "Gwen Stefani was very, uh, honest after editor Jessa Marie Karaall asked her about the backlash against the 2008 Harajuku Lovers collection. In my 6 years at @Allure_magazine, this may be the strangest celebrity interview we've published."