Pussy Riot call out Bella Thorne for “appropriation”
Pussy Riot are known for embracing feminism and their powerful protests. The punk act sport ski masks in an array of bright colors onstage and off.
Many associate the clothing item with the band, which apparently is why they’re calling out actress/singer Bella Thorne for selling a similar product in her Filthy Fangs merch store.
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Filthy Fangs is Thorne’s recently launched label. She releases her own music through the imprint, but she also represents her sister Dani (aka COM3T), Mod Sun and YouTuber Tana Mongeau among others.
In addition to releasing music, Filthy Fangs houses a store that sells clothing, stickers and more. This week, Thorne dropped new merch including ski masks in her store. The “Watch Your B**tch Ski Mask” comes in both neon green and pink.
Thorne took to her Instagram Story 20 minutes after the merch release to state the masks were almost sold out.
Pussy Riot caught wind of the release and responded with some concern as well as an invite.
“Just saw recent [Bella Thorne] merch. Looks EXACTLY like our colorful, feminist ski masks. We hope it’s not merely an act of appropriation and Bella indeed will join Pussy Riot and protest with us on the Red Square.”
just saw recent @bellathorne ‘s merch.. look EXACTLY like our colorful feminist ski masks.
we hope it’s not merely an act of appropriation and bella indeed will join pussy riot and protest with us on the red square. pic.twitter.com/rflksgeQqq
— ???????????????????? ???????????????? (@pussyrrriot) November 14, 2018
The Red Square is located in Pussy Riot’s hometown of Moscow, Russia. Thorne saw the tweet and responded with a simple “FUCK THE RED SQUARE.”
FUCK THE RED SQUARE https://t.co/6KolMN28vk
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) November 15, 2018
This isn’t the first time Thorne has been accused of ripping off someone else’s ideas. Back in August, Filthy Fangs released eyeshadow palettes that closely resembled ones being sold by another beauty brand, Juvia’s Place.
“We’ve seen the backlash and it’s uncomfortable to watch,”Juvia’s Place owner Chichi Eburu told Teen Vogue. “Yes, there are some similarities across every spectrum but we need to keep pushing forward. It’s unacceptable, seems like Bella’s team members didn’t do enough research. Hopefully they learn from this experience and move forward shining. We wish them the very best of luck.”
Bella responded to the allegations on Twitter, stating they probably had the same manufacturer and joking she was going to copy a different palette next.
I betu we have the same https://t.co/T8Zhegja0V suppose to look up every pallet ever made? How dare some1 else have a purple that looks like mine;) https://t.co/PVJG36mlQB
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) August 14, 2018
Honestly this one is dope if I were gonna copy one it’s this one 😉 https://t.co/n6H3Uwkuov
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) August 14, 2018
What do you think of Pussy Riot‘s claims Thorne is “appropriating” their ski mask design?
