Kenya Moore has apologized for wearing a Native American headdress on the March 21, 2021, episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.” The actress received tons of criticism for donning the headpiece, which she called a “warrior princess” costume and went to Twitter to right her wrongs.
“I want to sincerely apologize for inappropriately wearing the Native American headdress as a costume,” Moore posted. “I now realize that this was both disrespectful and insensitive and would never have done it if I had that knowledge and understanding beforehand. I regret it. When you know better, you do better. I am genuinely sorry.”
— KENYA MOORE (@KenyaMoore) March 23, 2021
Prior to the apology, the indigenous group IllumiNative addressed its concerns with the outfit in a statement on Instagram. Part of the statement read:
“We are deeply disturbed by last night’s episode of #RHOA in which @thekenyamoore wore a Native American ‘warrior princess’ costume. Costumes that mock Native peoples, defame our traditions and cultures, and perpetuate negative stereotypes are racist. ‘Playing Indian’ is a form of mascotry that is not just offensive, it is part of a long history of how Native peoples have been dehumanized. Countless research studies show the harm these images, actions, and the normalization of these behaviors have on our youth. We also know the dehumanization and sexualization of Native women contributes to the crisis of murdered and missing Indigenous women. #MMIW
“It is important that @bravotv, @comcast, @nbcuniversal, @bravoandy and @thekenyamoore apologize for the harm they have caused Native peoples and commit to ensuring offensive displays like this never happen again. Native people are not a costume.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMu3IEhLJFW/
Bravo issued a statement as well apologizing for the incident. During the episode, several of her cast members had issues with the costume, too.
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