Coco Responds to Backlash Over Her Braids: "This Shouldn't Be a Race War"

"This is so stupid," the glamour model says

By Zach Johnson Jul 24, 2017 12:50 PMTags

Coco isn't normally one to split hairs.

But, amid criticism over her new braids, the 38-year-old glamour model felt compelled to defend herself in a set of Instagram videos published Sunday. Coco spent eight hours having Makessia Ollivierre braid her hair last week, which she called "a nice summer look." She called them "Da Coco Swoop," saying, "I name all the braid styles I do even hair styles with no braids."

As she continued to post social media updates throughout the week, Coco was upset to learn that some users were upset by her "Coco-isms" and accused her of appropriating black culture.

"So, recently I got social media's panties in a bunch because I did braids to my hair. This is so stupid. I can't believe I'm talking about it, and I believe this shouldn't be turned out to be a race thing. But, this is what happened: I did my braids and I called them the Coco Swoop. I name all my styles that I do to myself. These are called the Coco Swoop. The braids before were called the Bo Derek braids. And it's a Coco-ism," the former E! star said Sunday. "I've always done it."

A post shared by Coco (@coco) on

A post shared by Coco (@coco) on

"Why can't we all rename hairstyles or braids? That sounds so stupid. Why is everybody claiming something they shouldn't? I know braids have been around for thousands of years. Don't you think I know that? If I want to wear a pineapple on my head, then I should be able to wear a pineapple on my head and call it the Pineapple Cocowop. I don't know. You see where I'm going with this?" she asked her 2.9 million Instagram followers. "Why is everybody hating?"

"People rename hairstyles all day long. Look [at] Beyoncé. Beyoncé, she does this hairstyle, and now it's the Lemonade, but no one's gonna get mad at her, right? So, at the end of the day, this shouldn't be a race war. This should be a 'human thing.' Right? Everybody should be able to do it. It's a 'human thing.' Give that a shot. Not a race war. It has nothing to do with race. But this just goes to show you that no one reads the captions underneath pictures, otherwise you would understand that this is not an issue," she said. "It's something that I do. It's a Coco-ism."

Coco then addressed the "love" she received from the rest of her followers who had defended her on Instagram. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I see it. I see all the comments. You know, power to you guys. Because I get this much love and that much hate, but sometimes, it's gotta come in and say something about it, because it's so disgusting that we should be, like, loving each other, instead of hating on each other because of a hairstyle," Coco argued. "Get over it."