{"id":9597,"date":"2025-07-20T03:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T03:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/9597\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T03:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T03:47:08","slug":"australian-influencer-sophia-begg-faces-backlash-over-japan-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/9597\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Influencer Sophia Begg Faces Backlash Over Japan Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian Influencer<\/a> Sophia Begg faced backlash for using a song in the Mandarin language to document her vacation in Japan.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, July 17, Begg, 21, accompanied an Instagram carousel<\/a> from her first day in Tokyo with Mandarin rapper SKAI ISYOURGOD\u2019s track \u201cBlueprint Supreme,\u201d according to the New York Post<\/a>. Multiple fans argued that Begg\u2019s song selection was culturally insensitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cGirl I love you but please the song isn\u2019t even in Japanese,\u201d one Instagram commenter replied.<\/p>\n

Another poster suggested that Begg\u2019s song choice was emblematic of the way Westerners can sometimes mischaracterize Eastern culture.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: Boba Tea Company Apologizes After Simu Liu Questions Cultural Appropriation<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tStefanie Keenan\/Getty Images A boba tea company apologized after Simu Liu called them out for cultural appropriation on his Canadian reality series Dragons\u2019 Den. During a recent episode of Dragons\u2019 Den, which is a Canadian version of Shark Tank, Bobba drink creators Sebastien Fiset and Jessica Frenette faced backlash after pitching their product to Liu, [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThis honestly reflects white privilege on another level\u2026 being able to pick and choose parts of someone else\u2019s culture for aesthetic without needing to understand or respect it,\u201d Instagram user Dayannee wrote. \u201cMeanwhile, we as Asians grow up being shamed or mocked for these same things. It\u2019s not just a song or a vibe, it\u2019s a lived culture, and treating it like a trend is harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commenter pushed back when one of Begg\u2019s fans theorized that she may have simply picked a song that was \u201ccurrently trending.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe song she used is currently trending, but it\u2019s a Chinese audio. If she actually knew it was Chinese, why use it in a post about Japan?\u201d Dayannee replied. \u201cMixing up two distinct cultures like that, especially just for aesthetics, comes off as surface-level and trendy. It feels racist because it suggests she chose the song simply because it fit an \u2018Asian aesthetic,\u2019 without understanding or caring that Chinese and Japanese cultures are entirely different.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Elsewhere, multiple Instagram users wrote that the mixup felt like \u201ccasual racism.\u201d Begg, who goes by the name Sopha Dopha online and has more than 1 million followers, has seemingly only obliquely referenced the criticism thus far.<\/p>\n

A subsequent vlog<\/a> featured Begg dancing on the street, along with the caption: \u201cWhen the trip makes it out of the groupchat {there\u2019s three of us).\u201d<\/p>\n

Us Weekly has reached out to Begg\u2019s representatives for comment.<\/p>\n

Despite the controversy, Begg has continued to vlog about her Tokyo trip, including taking fans along to a sumo match, a ride on the subway<\/a> and a taste-testing tour<\/a> of the famed Tsukiji Outer Market.<\/p>\n

Begg previously faced controversy in 2023 for claiming that she would dress up as a stingray for a costume party, reports the Daily Mail<\/a>. When a follower referenced survivalist Steve Irwin\u2019s 2006 death in a stingray attack<\/a>, Begg appeared to make light of the tragedy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m going to an Aussie dress-up party in a duo costume. They\u2019re going as Steve Irwin and I\u2019m going as a stingray,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\"PromoRobert
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\n Related: Robert Irwin Makes Us Emotional With His Latest Nod to Late Dad Steve<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tRobert Irwin is always keeping late father, Steve Irwin, in his memory \u2014 even on an airplane. \u201cWhen the in-flight movie selection is elite,\u201d Robert, 21, captioned an Instagram video on Sunday, June 22. The conservationist filmed himself clicking through the movie selection on an airplane before landing on The Crocodile Hunter: Collision, starring his [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

Begg\u2019s stingray costume caused a minor scandal on TikTok, leading to her releasing a public apology to the Irwin family<\/a> in order to \u201cclear up some things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Steve Irwin and would never want to cause disrespect to his family or legacy,\u201d the influencer insisted. \u201cHe is an iconic Aussie and no offense was meant by my costume \u2026 I have thought about and reflected on my costume and I will not be wearing it and apologize wholeheartedly to anyone who was offended by it. That was definitely not my intention. I apologize sincerely.\u201d<\/p>\n

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