Justin Bieber shaves off his dreadlocks after cultural appropriation backlash

Justin Bieber has shaved off his dreadlocks following claims that he had engaged in cultural appropriation.

The Canadian-born singer faced criticism for the hairstyle when he originally sported the look in 2016, but he decided to try the hairstyle out again in April.

Now, Bieber appears to have reconsidered his actions, by sharing a photo of his buzzed-off hairdo.

On Sunday, the star posted a photo of himself alongside his wife Hailey in what appeared to be a cozy diner.

He captioned the image: "Happy Sunday."

Bieber also shared a close-up photo of himself in black and white  on his Instagram Story.

Justin Bieber’s Instagram Story.Photo courtesy of @justinebieber/Instagram

When Bieber faced the initial criticism in 2016, he posted a video to his Instagram captioned with the following: “Being weird is fun if u r not weird I don’t like you.”

Some fans like the look and vibe of his hairstyle, but others on Twitter pointed out that his dreads could be seen as problematic.

People haven’t hesitated to give their two cents on the haircut.

One of the primary reasons that Bieber received backlash is the cultural significance dreadlocks have. For Rastafarians, dreadlocks are symbolic of coming to the understanding that vanity and appearances are unimportant. Also, if the hair is dreaded (or knotted), there’s a belief that “the energy remains within the hair and the body,” which correlates to wellness.

Bieber is not the only celebrity to be accused of cultural appropriation. In 2018, Zac Efron revealed that he had gotten dreadlocks ‘just for fun’.

“Why is this still up 🙄. Now it’s a thing cause a white man does it but black people can’t have their hair like that?! A girl was kicked from school because she was a Rasta, but this guy who we all grow to love post it and is getting great applause for how good it looks 😬,” someone commented on Efron’s photo.

Kendall Jenner recently faced accusations of cultural appropriation as she launched her 818 tequila brand with a campaign that showed her in Mexico, donning braids, an oversized shirt, and a cowboy hat around her neck.

Since then, she disabled or limited some comments on her company’s Instagram page.

Bieber had also shared a photo of his locs some hours before the most recent photo. He was attending Jenner’s launch party for the product.

Overall, we should all consider certain aspects of people’s cultures to learn what could be deemed offensive, and avoid ignorance of lived experiences.