"That girl Izzy Gnovel is a racist bigot"
A US Indian TikToker has come under fire for pretending to be Black.
The young woman, named Izzy Gnovel, frequently posts on TikTok and many of her videos feature her lip-syncing to songs that include the n-word.
She has also posted videos where she has insisted that she is Black, more specifically that she is a “whitewashed Black person”.
Seemingly stating that she will take a DNA test, the video’s caption read:
“Now I gotta take a DNA test again cause y’all wilding, y’all gonna be looking real dumb.”
Izzy, who is believed to be from California, has now drawn flak for a video in which she seemingly did not care about the criticism.
apparently this girl is indian pretending to be a white washed black girl ? pic.twitter.com/R2s5fakXwt
— coongirl carter (@ilysafari) May 25, 2023
In the video, Izzy is seen lip-syncing to her caption:
“You are so disrespectful to the Black community.”
It then cuts to Izzy with her arms folded and looking carefree while a Southern track played in the background.
This annoyed members of the Black community and netizens soon found family pictures, revealing that her family are Indians who are originally from Malaysia.
Wondering if her parents are aware of what she is doing, one netizen wrote:
“Her parents gotta be aware of this, it’s so gross and she’s so young it’s not going away any time soon. She’s very confused.”
Another said: “I’m wondering if her parents know she’s calling herself black on the internet.”
A third wrote: “That girl Izzy Gnovel is a racist bigot who got caught mocking and simultaneously degrading Black culture. Disgusting.”
One comment read: “Never seen an identity crisis like this before.”
Others began posting their own videos, hitting out at Izzy for portraying herself as a different ethnicity.
A TikTok user named Zeina said:
“This is throwing me off so bad. Not only did she pretend to be Black but she pretended to be a whitewashed Black girl.
“What was the thought process behind all of this?
“And she was lip-syncing the n-word in songs too.
“She could have at least pretended to be a whitewashed Indian because she’s Indian.”
Another TikToker named Leah was disappointed with Izzy, having previously defended her.
She tearfully said: “Izzy, I am so disappointed in you. I defended your honour. I defended you. I don’t even like you.”
The controversy has since resulted in Izzy setting her TikTok account to private.
Users also found a video where she responded to rumours about her.
One rumour stated that she is racist. The TikToker responded:
“I make racist jokes with my friends as a joke. Chill.”
She also appeared to admit that she is homophobic.