Blake Lively’s backside is getting even more attention than usual this week, after she posted an image of herself at a Cannes gala for the new Woody Allen film Café Society to her eight million Instagram followers with the caption “L.A. face with an Oakland booty.”
The caption, of course, is a reference to Sir Mix-A-Lot’s chart-topping and Grammy-winning anthem on big booties from 1992, “Baby Got Back.”
Many commenters jumped on the caption, dragging the “Gossip Girl” actress for cultural appropriation and racial insensitivity. Then, as things typically go on the internet, other commenters jumped on them for being overly sensitive. Rinse and repeat, ad infinitum.
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The post has generated more than 590,000 likes and 18,500 comments in just under 24 hours, and has turned into a minefield of debate and vitriol.
Here’s a taste of the conversation the controversy prompted on Twitter.
Other celebrities have referenced the line on social media before. Katy Perry dropped the line on Twitter in 2012 without causing an uproar, though she did face similar criticism from Azealia Banks for a tweet about the “trap house” last June.
Khloe Kardashian posted it in 2015.
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And so did Jonathan Lipnicki (aka the kid from 1996 movie Jerry Maguire).
