Love Island’s Rebecca Gormley slammed by furious fans after ‘offensive’ Native American photoshoot
LOVE Island’s Rebecca Gormley is under fire for a photo shoot where she is dressed in a Native American traditional outfit. Rebecca, 22, posted a series of photos on her Instagram showing her in the costume and posing alongside a spotted horse called Hope. In the pics, Rebecca is sporting a fringe coat, headdress with […]
LOVE Island’s Rebecca Gormley is under fire for a photo shoot where she is dressed in a Native American traditional outfit.
Rebecca, 22, posted a series of photos on her Instagram showing her in the costume and posing alongside a spotted horse called Hope.
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In the pics, Rebecca is sporting a fringe coat, headdress with feathers, traditional Native American jewellery and holding a long totem pole.
The photoshoot in her native Newcastle shows her atop a hill, standing by the huge horse and also sitting on Hope in a saddle.
The Love Island star captioned the post: “OMG I wish you guys could have seen what went on during this photoshoot
you would not believe it!
“Cows in the field started to charge at the horse 
this was soooo terrifying ngl. But no one was hurt thankfully. I tell you one thing now it’s not always glamorous being a model”
“Thanks @joelawsphotography for once again creating amazing images & also a HUGE well done on your gold medal 
Makeup by the lovely @ajedgarartist 
btw how gorgeous is Hope the horse 
.”
Rebecca’s run-in with the scary cows was not the only run-in she faced that day, as her followers rushed to condemn the shoot as cultural appropriation.
“Are you seriously dressed like a Native American,” one Instagram user asked, while another postured, “what in the cultural appropriation?”
One person asked if she had stopped to consider whether it was appropriate to wear a Native American costume.
“Hun did u think this through??” they wrote.
One Reddit user explained why the photoshoot was offensive: “The Indigenous population… faces so much racism, prejudice, cultural genocide, and intergenerational trauma so for someone to post such a tasteless photo like this is disgusting.
“This is blatant culture appropriation, Indigenous peoples’ were stripped of their land and are still facing oppression to this very day and for Rebecca to treat their culture as a fashion show is gross.”
The photographer, Joe Laws, alleges he won an award with the Masters Photography Association for the controversial shoot and admitted he “always wanted to use Rebecca Gormley for this creative idea”.
People also filled his comments section pointing out the offensive cultural appropriation to which he replied, “thank you for all the positive comments and I will take into account the others.”
Cultural appropriation refers to taking on the elements of one culture by someone from a different culture, especially someone more privileged appropriating culture from a disadvantaged minority.
Glory Ames, from the White Earth reservation in Minnesota, USA explained why culturally appropriating Native American culture is hurtful.
“They blatantly take certain aspects of our culture, race, religion, and use it for their advantage and ignore the people living it,” Glory told the Washington Post last year.
Rebecca has yet to respond publicly to the criticism and has refused to take the post down.
But the controversy comes just weeks after fans slammed her and boyfriend Biggs Chris breaking UK quarantine rules after holidaying in Spain.
Despite having just returned from their getaway, the couple appeared to have travelled to Glasgow in Scotland and even shared their antics on social media.
In a now deleted Instagram Story post, Rebecca and Biggs were seen enjoying food at Glasgow restaurant Manjaros.
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One angry fan captured the footage and shared it on Reddit claiming the pair had broken the rules that state those returning from Spain must stay at home for 14 days.
After they arrived back in Scotland, Biggs shared a photo of his girlfriend checking in for their flight from Spain alongside the Scottish flag and the caption: “Next destination.”
A day later Rebecca shared a racy lingerie snaps to Instagram and wrote alongside them: “Glow through what you go through
@missyempire swipe up link in my story #missygirls #ad.”
Later that evening she shared some funny clips of her giving Biggs a haircut at home, and on Friday they were joined by pals yet again as they enjoyed another yummy dinner.