Singer Noah Cyrus has been forced to apologize profusely after giving pop star Harry Styles a strange compliment on her Instagram page, according to People and TMZ.
Cyrus, the youngest sibling of Miley Cyrus, commented on the much discussed Vogue photo of Styles wearing a dress, writing that "he wears this dress better than any of u nappy ass heauxz."
LMAO WHAT?!?! pic.twitter.com/NREGcQ7eJ8
— This is an Airfryer Stan Acc (@simsimmaaz) December 3, 2020
She quickly apologized on Instagram.
"I am mortified that I used a term without knowing the context and history, but I know now and I am horrified and truly sorry. I will never use it again. Thank you for educating me," the 20-year-old wrote in an Instagram story. "I in no way meant to offend anyone. I am so so sorry."
The responses were less than kind, with many people noting that it is common for white people to use terms they know are offensive, only to apologize after and say they were "educated."
Who tf taught her that word
— Glacii (@glacisutherland) December 3, 2020
White folks don’t ever “know the definition” of a word, or phrase, but they will sure as hell use it. It’s been played out.
— #MINE (@ChristianJaLon) December 3, 2020
She “didn’t mean to offend” but clearly knew it was derogatory otherwise the statement wouldn’t make sense. She can’t seriously think it was neutral if she was using it to insult people who don’t wear the dress as well. Like apart from being so stupid, it’s inconsistent.
— ༺b l ü d h a v e n༻ (@hugebeeinthecar) December 4, 2020
tired of "educating" yt ppl
— B???? (@beycherub) December 3, 2020
She used all her energy just to type "heaux". She KNEW what she was doing????
— Ladybugotaku (@Ladybugotaku1) December 4, 2020
why she used a word she didn’t know the meaning of is my question. what did she think nappy meant ???
— END SARS ???????? (@foreverr_briii) December 3, 2020
Sad that we live in time where we have access to so much knowledge to be able to understand the terms we use, but don’t take the time to actually educate ourselves. It always “I’m deeply sorry for offending anyone”, not let me educate myself first. ????
— Zeniah (@Zennyy_11) December 4, 2020
How do you not know what nappy means in 2020… ?! pic.twitter.com/pX6pBGvzUd
— Kenya’s White Refrigerator (@imbeeyo) December 4, 2020
The strange, bigoted comment comes as conservatives continue to debate Styles' decision to wear a dress in a fashion photo shoot.
For some reason, conservative analysts like Candace Owens have spent weeks bashing Styles for the photo shoot, claiming it is somehow reflective of a lack of "manliness" in modern American men.
"There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this. In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack. Bring back manly men," Owens wrote in one of her most popular tweets ever.
It is still unclear how or why the momentary fashion inclinations of a British pop star mean anything in relation to how people of any gender interact, but regardless, conservative commentators have turned Styles' dress into a major talking point. They've used the debate to further stigmatize trans people and imply that Western civilization is in peril because some men don't always want to wear pants.
Styles has since responded to Owens' criticisms, jokingly mimicking her "Bring back manly men" quote in an Instagram post.
The post, which has nearly eight million likes, took place as Styles responded to the controversy in an interview with Variety.
“To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred,” Styles said.
Noah is far from the only member of her family to make waves using Black language or commenting on Black culture. While her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, used his country music stardom to defend Lil Nas X and help launch him into superstardom, Miley has a somewhat lengthy history of racially offensive language.
Miley faced backlash for her brief foray into hip-hop adjacent music. After using the genre to make millions, she went back to making country music but not before bashing hip-hop.
"I also love that new Kendrick song ['Humble']: 'Show me somethin' natural like ass with some stretch marks.' I love that because it's not 'Come sit on my d**k, suck on my c**k.' I can't listen to that anymore. That's what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much 'Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my c**k' — I am so not that," Miley said in 2017.
She later apologized for those comments, according to Billboard, releasing a now-deleted YouTube video last year titled, "Miley Cyrus Is My Problematic Fav…Sorry."
"I want to start with saying I am sorry. I own the fact that saying … 'this pushed me out of the hip hop scene a little' was insensitive as it is a privilege to have the ability to dip in and out of 'the scene.' There are decades of inequality that I am aware of, but still have a lot [to] learn about," Miley said.