MAMAMOO's Hwasa recently drew flak for allegedly mocking a Nigerian culture after wearing Nigeria's traditional costume to give a fun feel vibe on MBC's reality show "I Live Alone," also known as "Home Alone."

As reported by Soompi, Hwasa, on July 25, together with Han Hye Jin and Park Na Rae, starred in a live telecast of MBC's "Home Alone: Girls' Secret Party," a spin-off of "Home Alone." In the live broadcast of the show's YouTube channel, Hwasa was seen wearing an outfit that seemed to look like a "Buba," including "gele."

Per IBtimes, the word "Buba" means house. It originated from Yoruba (one of Nigeria's largest ethnic groups), which means upper clothing. It is worn with "iro" or wrapper and "gele," meaning a head tie.

Hwasa's outfit unprecedentedly caused a fan war on Twitter, especially when some tweets connecting the act to the 46-year-old Black man's death, named George Floyd, due to police brutality.

The singer's fans, however, came in to defend their idol from the provoking accusations. They said that Hwasa did not disrespect Floyd nor insult the Black community. But the defense somehow heated a conversation saying that the singer-actress is racist and ignorant.

Fans continued to defend Hwasa, saying that she never mentioned Floyd in the video and that just wearing the outfit to portray Georgia to "scare people" as a part of the challenge, wrote Meaww.

However, other netizens pointed out that the issue isn't about the comment connecting the topic to Floyd, "It is the outfit itself that caused the problem."

On July 25, the show's producers responded to the boiling issues regarding Hwasa's outfit with a statement posted as a comment on the YouTube video. It stated that the producers are receiving negative messages regarding the costume of Hwasa.

The staff clarified that Hwasa's outfit originated from a Korean "sauna" outfit that the singer often wore in their program. "We have no intention to comically present a traditional outfit from a particular country."

The show's team continued in their comment that they observed that many misinterpreted Hwasa's outfit as a Nigerian costume. They made it clear that the show did not intend to connect it to a specific culture and give an idea of racism.

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