Gwen Stefani Addresses Whether She's a Republican & Responds to Harajuku Girls Cultural Appropriation Backlash

Gwen Stefani is addressing her politics and past controversies.

The 51-year-old “Slow Clap” entertainer spoke out in an interview with Paper.

Here’s what she had to say…

Click inside to read…

On her politics, and whether she’s a Republican: “I can see how people would be curious, but I think it’s pretty obvious who I am. I’ve been around forever. I started my band because we were really influenced by ska, which was a movement that happened in the late ’70s, and it was really all about people coming together. The first song I ever wrote was a song called ‘Different People,’ which was on the Obama playlist, you know, a song about everyone being different and being the same and loving each other. The very first song I wrote…the whole point of voting, is you have this personal space to feel how you feel. I use my platform to share my life story and to engage with people and to exchange whatever gift I was giving. I’m not a political science major. I am not that person. Everyone knows that. So why would I even talk about it?”

On feminism, and writing “Just a Girl”: “I don’t even know if I knew what feminist at that time was. I was very sheltered growing up with my family. I wasn’t political. I wasn’t angry…I don’t need to go on Instagram and say ‘girl power.’ I just need to live and be a good person and leave a trail of greatness behind me. Stop talking about it and stop trying to bully everybody about it. Just do it. And that’s how I feel like I’ve lived my life.”

On the cultural appropriation backlash for the “Harajuku Girls” era of her career: “If we didn’t buy and sell and trade our cultures in, we wouldn’t have so much beauty, you know? We learn from each other, we share from each other, we grow from each other. And all these rules are just dividing us more and more…I think that we grew up in a time where we didn’t have so many rules. We didn’t have to follow a narrative that was being edited for us through social media, we just had so much more freedom.”

On luck, and her career: “Because the fact I made it, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s written in the stars. You know what I’m saying? I’m not the most talented. I’m not the most pretty. I’m not the most smart. None of those things. But I made it, right?”

For more from Gwen Stefani, head to PaperMag.com.

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