28yr old rapper, Nadia Nakai, recently found herself in some heat after her ‘bare-face’ snap surfaced online.
Immediately, twiitter trolls went to work talking about how different the star looked without her perfectly made-up face, dubbing her ‘unrecognisable.’ But not everyone was critical of Nadia’s bare-faced look.
Using the #NadiaNakaiMakeUpChallenge , women started posting side-by-side snaps of themselves with and without make-up.
The photo was taken at a guest lodge where Nadia and her beau, Bandile Mbere, were enjoying some quality time for Valentine’s Day.
Nadia’s photo gained so much traction that it made its way into an episode of local soapie, Isidingo. In one scene, two characters discuss the difference between Nadia’s bare-faced photo with one of her usual looks, even mentioning Nadia by name.
But Nadia’s close friend and label boss, Cassper Nyovest, slammed the show for the skit. He wrote:
“Someone sent me this clip of Isidingo shaming Nadia Nakai, like all the other cyber bullies,” he captioned the clip on Twitter. “I wonder how they think the poor girl will feel. Wow.”
But Nadia said she wasn’t hurt by it. She said:
“I understand that they need to keep their script current and this is something that they usually do. So, I don’t expect them to treat the situation differently, just because it’s me.
“I don’t feel like they shamed me or owe me anything, but they did add fuel to the fire, which was unnecessary and that’s why Cassper commented.”
But the shows spokesperson, Sumaya Mogola, when contacted for a comment regarding the tweet, said:
“We did not mean to offend anyone,” she said. “Isidingo strives to stay current with whatever is trending or in the news and usually work it into the show.”
“We also did not mean to offend Nadia Nakai. She is beautiful with or without makeup. She is just a beautiful girl.”
As for the #NadiaNakaiMakeUpChallenge , Nadia said she was proud of the fact that women turned something that was meant to shame her into an opportunity to embrace their natural beauty.
She admitted she was initially hurt by the challenge, but now loves what it has come to stand for.
“I actually think it’s a dope challenge, women took something that was supposed to be hurtful and turned it into something positive.
“They rallied behind it, shared pictures of themselves and started embracing their natural selves.”
