Influencers’ teary apologies over ‘racist’ trend
Prominent influencers have been forced to apologise after partaking in a “problematic” trend that mocked Indigenous Australians.
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A growing number of influencers have come forward to apologise after backlash erupted over an online trend widely condemned as “racist” and “disgusting” for mocking Indigenous Australians.
The controversy gained traction following videos from TikToker Ali Boaza, who slammed creators for disrespecting First Nations people.
“I’m always down for a funny ‘ha ha ha’ trend, but the trend where you guys use a random Aboriginal man to prank call someone on FaceTime is f***ed,” Ms Boaza, who lives in Alice Springs, said.
She was also saddened that the trend had gained international attention, especially in America, where she claimed people didn’t even understand the harm they were contributing to.
“I’ve literally lived in America and they are some of the dumbest f***ing people in the world. They just thought that Aboriginal people were a class of people who migrated to Australia,” she explained in the clip that amassed over 370k views.
The prank explained
The prank involved people using footage of an Indigenous man - Eric Yunkaporta - and pretending he was calling from their phone when FaceTiming unsuspecting friends, family and partners.
In many of the clips, the people on the other end of the call are often shocked and concerned that an unknown man supposedly has access to their loved one’s phone.
“The way some of these people react, their faces, the disgust they have immediately as soon as they see an Indigenous man on their screen, I know it’s unexpected, I know it’s a f***ing prank, but the disgust is instant,” Ms Boaza said.
“It’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s not trendy.”
“Perpetuating harmful stereotypes”
Activist Jeff Kissubi also called out the trend in a clip that has amassed nearly seven million views.
He said it was “perpetuating harmful stereotypes” and wanted to raise awareness about the person behind the trend, who he claimed never consented to his image being used.
“For some, it might be harmless but for many, it just exposes another aspect of how Indigenous people are always vilified for entertainment purposes and never compensated,” he stated.
“It just exposes this idea of reducing the life of an individual as a punchline and normalising exploitative behaviour.
“This is not a gimmick. This is a real person we’re talking about that has a life, a history, a story, and obviously an identity.”
In comments on both Mr Kissubi and Ms Boaza’s clips, the overarching sentiment from viewers was one of condemnation.
“This is so disrespectful,” one user wrote, as another called it “so mean” and admitted they unfollowed creators who participated in the trend.
Influencers apologise
Luke and Scott, brothers from Melbourne who have 3.6 million followers were some of the creators to acknowledge their involvement and post an apology video.
“We have come here to profusely apologise for the hurt we’ve caused for participating in the trending FaceTime prank,” Scott said.
He shared that it went against “everything we stand for”, and they “mindlessly followed a trend without thinking about the implications it would have.”
They also apologised to Mr Yunkaporta and thanked the creators who educated them about why this trend was harmful.
“We immediately took the video down once we realised the hurt it was causing,” they continued before stating their commitment to be allies to the Indigenous community.
“We would never intentionally hurt the people we have always stood by and cared for.”
Commenters on the clip, which now has 2.9 million likes, appreciated the video and said it seemed more genuine than other apologies they have seen about the issue.
Meanwhile, Kaitlin and Josh Knight, NSW content creators with 247k followers, didn’t have the same reaction from their fans after their “robotic” apology video went viral, racking up 4.2 million views.
“We want to take a moment to sincerely apologise for our participation in the trending FaceTime prank and the harm it has caused,” a tearful Ms Knight said.
“Our apologies go out to the Aboriginal and Indigenous community as well as to Eric,” Mr Knight added.
They said they never intended to offend anyone but understand that intent does not excuse the impact of their actions.
Some commenters noted that it sounded as if they were reading from a teleprompter and even asked if it was a “skit” because of how generic the apology sounded.
“It’s just a BS apology many influencers are now doing,” one person slammed. “They aren’t actually sorry and don’t actually give a crap about the person or their actions they just don’t want to cop hate.”
“I thought this was a parody,” someone else replied, as another added, “It seems so written.”
Indigenous artist calls for continued education to “combat ignorance”
Associate Professor Wayne Quilliam, one of Australia’s most prominent Indigenous artists says the trend contributes to the “extreme racism” against Indigenous communities.
Prof Quilliam won the National Photographic Portrait Prize in 2022 with an image of Mr Yunkaporta.
“We believe in fostering understanding and unity among all Australians. This incident underscores the need for continued education and awareness to combat ignorance and promote inclusivity,” he said in a statement on Friday.
On his Instagram, he shared his award-winning portrait of Mr Yunkaporta, titled ‘Silent Strength’, and implored people to reshare the image in order to combat the “unflattering” photos of him that have gone viral during the trend.
“We want to show the world this (trend) is inappropriate,” he wrote in the caption.
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald in 2022, Prof Quilliam said that Mr Yunkaporta, who is from the small town of Aurukun in Far North Queensland, is an “incredible” man.
“English is his third language but he doesn’t need to say much to tell you a lot.”
It is unknown whether he is aware of the online trend or not.
News.com.au has reached out to him for comment.
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