Kim Kardashian Faces Backlash for Geisha Girl Photo

Kim Kardashian is facing accusations of cultural appropriation once again after posting a photo with a geisha from her recent trip to Japan.

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians cast member took to Instagram Wednesday to share a picture from her recent vacation with sisters Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian to Japan, where they traveled to cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto.

In this photo, Kim poses with duck lips while putting powder on a Japanese geisha’s face, captioning the snap, “A dream come true.”

Fans immediately took to the comment section with differing opinions on how the photo could be another example of Kim appropriating or exploiting another culture.

“Is this cultural appropriation?” one fan asked. “Actual question. Is she wrong for this? I feel like she might be but I’m not sure bc it’s not my culture. Any ideas?”

“Not really,” another fan replied. “What culture is she appropriating? None … stop lighting fires. People are allowed to protect their cultures from appropriation too [by the way] without an eye roll.”

Others were pretty sure the photo crossed the line from cultural appreciation to appropriation.

“HOW ARE U SO PROBLEMATIC,” one fan wrote.

“Kim posing with the next culture she’s about to appropriate,” another fan said. “[Just kidding], love you Kim.”

This is far from the first time Kim has been accused of taking from another culture without giving proper credit.

In January, Kim showed off her new blonde cornrows in a series of photos on social media, calling them “Bo Derek” braids in reference to the actress’ iconic look in the 1979 movie 10. But giving credit for the hairstyle, which originated in Africa as Fulani braids, to a white actress, rubbed many the wrong way.

Derek came to Kim’s defense on Twitter amid the controversy.

“Hey! It’s just a hairstyle that I wore in the movie 10 [Kim] calls it the Bo Derek because she copied my pattern of braids,” she tweeted at the time.

“I copied it from Ann-Margret’s backup singer from her Vegas Sho,” she continued. “And we all copied Queen Nofretari. I hope Her Royal Highness is flattered.”

One of her many Halloween costumes, in which she dressed as the late artist Aaliyah, a black woman, also had people claiming she was taking part in cultural appropriation. Others defended Kim, saying she had dressed as the R&B artist respectfully, not engaging in racist approaches to the costume such as blackface or other problematic choices.

Photo credit: Instagram/@kimkardashian