Renowned star, Doja Cat has broken the internet with her compelling songs and bold personality. Yet the star’s questionable decisions have recently made her an agent of controversy.
In May. 22, Doja first began to feel the fumes of media backlash when her presence in white supremacist online chat rooms was made public. However, Doja Cat quickly shut this down by saying “I’ve used public chat rooms to socialize since I was a child. I shouldn’t have been on some of those chat room sites, but I personally have never been involved in any racist conversations. I’m sorry to everyone that I offended.”
The conversation then turned to the star’s old song, “Dindu Nuffin”, capturing her in more racist allegations.
“Dindu Nuffin ” is a shortened version of the phrase “didn’t do nothing,” which has circled around white supremacist groups; it is typically used as a slur for black victims of police brutality. Many fans have wondered why Doja Cat, a black woman, would name a song after a racist phrase.
Doja Cat then assured her fans that she is proud of her South African heritage and her song was in no way tied to anything outside of her own personal experience. In the statement, she wrote “It was written in response to people who often used that term to hurt me. I made an attempt to flip its meaning, but recognize that it was a bad decision to use the term in my music.”
But out of all of the artist’s questionably bold decisions, none have been as scandalous as those from the summer of 2023. Doja Cat’s new boyfriend J. Cyrus caused a stir in social media when his problematic past began circling quickly through media outlets.
Cyrus’ past sexual misconduct and abuse of his employees was brought back up to the surface, and Doja Cat was faced with the brunt of the hate.
“I think who you date says something about you. IF she is dating someone like that, then that also says something about her character” Expressed junior Lily Patramanis.
Later Doja responded to a person who was sexually manipulated by Cyrus by saying she has never cared what people think about her nor her personal life
Doja Cat hasn’t been known to hold back when speaking against her fans.
It began when the star started creating boundaries between herself and her fans, telling them they needed to get off their phones and get a life when her fans started calling themselves the “kittenz”.
When commenting on fans using her birth name, Amala, in their users, she referred to it as “creepy”. When fans wanted her to say that she loved them, she refused to express her appreciation, instead saying,“I don’t [love you] because I don’t even know y’all.”
Fans responded to Doja Cat’s messages by replying that she is “nothing without them,” and that they’ve “supported her even though they don’t even know her”. Finally Doja Cat replied saying that nobody forced them to support her and they should stop acting like they’re her mother.
An avid listener expressed her feelings over this matter: “I think it is wrong because they don’t personally know her but yet they still support her for what she does, so she should do the same,” expressed junior Lauren Brohm.
Like Brohm, her fanbase was unhappy about Doja Cats’ words. This resulted in her losing over half a million fans and the deactivation of numerous of her fan accounts. Yet Doja Cat was unaffected with everything and even felt relieved: “Seeing all these people unfollow makes me feel like I’ve defeated a large beast that’s been holding me down for so long,”
Lately Doja has been busy with her newest album, “Scarlet”, which has sold over 72,000 copies.
The song “Paint the Town Red” from the album addresses the incidents with her fans: ”I said what I said/I’d rather be famous instead/I let all that get to my head/I don’t care, I paint the town red” Lastly in a later verse, she sings “Fans ain’t dumb, but extremists are… Fame ain’t somethin’ that I need no more.”
Doja Cats’ fame has been on a rollercoaster since the unveiling of her bold opinions.
Sources argue the stars’ fame is built on her controversies because of fans’ attraction to her extremist attitude and actions. While some believe it is essential to be able to separate art from artist, the half a million fans Doja Cat lost would seem to disagree.
