The director of Taylor Swift’s latest music video is defending himself after the video was chided as “racist.”
“Wildest Dreams” premiered at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night, and now Swift is being accused of “channeling white colonialism” because her video shows an all white cast in an African landscape.
Joseph Kahn, who directed the video, attempted to clear things up Wednesday after NPR published a scathing review of the video.
Kahn said the producer who made the video is a black woman and that it was shot in multiple countries. (RELATED: Miley Cyrus And Awards Show Criticized For Being Racist)
I stopped hoping to be the next Spielberg 15 years ago. Now I just hope to not get stabbed by someone following my twitter feed.
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 2, 2015
Fyi I say we shot it in “Africa” because I shot it on more than one country. Botswanna and South Africa.
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 1, 2015
I work with the most famous people in the world…and I would never want to be famous. People take shots at you 24/7. It’s nuts.
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) September 2, 2015
(Photo: YouTube screen grab)
NPR said colonialism was not “romantic nor beautiful.”
“We are shocked to think that in 2015, Taylor Swift, her record label and her video production group would think it was OK to film a video that presents a glamorous version of the white colonial fantasy of Africa,” NPR noted.
NPR said Kahn “should have done a little more research” before making the video.
(Photo: YouTube screen grab)
“To those of us from the continent who had parents or grandparents who lived through colonialism (and it can be argued in some cases are still living through it), this nostalgia that privileged white people have for colonial Africa is awkwardly confusing to say the least and offensive to say the most.”
Swift, who is donating all proceeds from the video to the African Parks Foundation, has not commented. (RELATED: Taylor Swift Apologizes After Nicki Minaj Blames Nomination Snub On Being Black)
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