Nick Cannon has been wearing a turban off and on for months. It’s a bizarre fashion statement but some of you have said that you’ve seen him with it on X-Factor and that it actually suits him. Nick’s turban has its own twitter account and Nick has retweeted memes about his turban, so he has somewhat of a sense of humor about it. Plus he Instagrammed a video where Kevin Hart told him he hated it. So when comic Dane Cook finally realized that Nick has been wearing a turban and decided to rant about it, Nick took the high road and said he wanted to discuss it with Dane.
Here’s Dane’s post which makes little sense other than conveying his anger that Nick is daring to wear a pink turban with a jewel on it. No wonder this guy has to steal other people’s jokes.
And this is how Nick responded, by saying he’d like to educate Dane.
That’s surprisingly staid from a guy who thinks that Planned Parenthood is a secret eugenics program. So is Nick Cannon Sikh now? If so, he’s picking and choosing what to follow because Sikh followers don’t cut their hair or shave at all. He’s just enjoying his turban and occasionally mixing it up with a knit cap or mohawk. It’s like the turban is his fancy wear and a knit cap is his casual option. I still think that Eva Mendes did it best. Now I want a dress turban so I don’t have to mess with my hair before I go out. This would be great for the gym too. Look how cute some of these are.
photos credit: WENN.com
as someone who was raised Sikh — Nick Cannon is a jack@$$, other people’s religion and culture are NOT costumes!!
What is the problem? Why the name calling?
because you can’t just hash-tag something and think that excuses your cultural appropriation
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION is the problem. I don’t understand why it’s okay for some (Eva Mendes, Nick Cannon) to culturally appropriate, but everybody is screaming from the rooftops if the Kartrashians or Bieber wear dreads. It’s not okay, period.
That being said… I don’t think hairstyles can be culturally appropriated and I am not defending the Kardashians, blah. Is there a respectful way to imitate/pay homage to another culture? I’m not sure.
Wearing a turban was a sign to others that anyone can be royal. Don’t forget that. Only royals and high up people were allowed but Guru Gobind SIngh Ji said all his Sikhs should wear one. Love your brown brothers. I wear my turban everyday and I feel pride when I see others wearing one. It does as much harm to the fabric of the universe to be offended as it does to offend.
The Hindu Rajputs were the only Hindus allowed to wear ornate turbans, carry weapons and have their mustache and beard. Also at this time, only the Rajputs could have Singh (“lion”) or Kaur (“princess”) as their second name. Even the Gurus did not have Singh as part of their name, until the Tenth Guru.
The downtrodden followers of the Sikh faith did not have the means to display aristocratic attire, nor were they allowed to, even if they had the means. (Doing so was usually equivalent to a death sentence.) It was in this context that Guru Gobind Singh decided to turn the tables on the ruling aristocracy by commanding every Sikh to carry a sword, take up the name Singh or Kaur, and have kesh (hair) and turban displayed boldly, without any fear. This effectively made his followers see themselves on a par with the Mughal rulers.
@tegteg Eva Mendez is of Cuban dissent. Turbans are quite common in Cuba, so I think for her it is a point of Cuban pride, not cultural appropriation.
@hkk thank you for the background of turbans. I always learn so much on this site!
@hkk- thank you for sharing. That’s all very interesting and it makes sense that Nick would reference Sikhs in his post.
Echoing thanks, hkk. That was cool.
So, help me out with this turban taboo, seriously. Turbans just like Nick’s are and have been sold and worn all over the US for years as fashion accessories, same as hats. Famed movie stars have worn them, church ladies wear them, women who don’t have time to fix their hair and run to the store wear them. Nick’s turban doesn’t even look authentic. It’s looks mass-produced, Sally’s Beauty store variety; not even a high quality item. What am I missing about it’s relevance to cultural appropriation?
I think Nick ran into problems by actually hashtagging “Sikh” to explain it. otherwise, you’re right. I’m a black woman and I wear a turban or headwrap when I don’t feel like dealing with my hair.
hkk – thank you! That was awesome. Learned something new today.
Thanks, NW. He could have saved himself some grief by just trying to make a fashion statement rather than a cultural one, but I’m not gonna rag on his judgement right now. And, ditto with the thanks to hkk for the background info!
That Dane Cook’s rant is considered funny by some people? It was incoherent.
It ends with “Follow meeeee” and some laughter to cover up the desperation… so no, I don’t think many people are laughing at Dane’s “jokes”.
Feeling proud to read this today. Yes, Nick. Singh is King. Wear your crown dear. So hard to understand why someone’s choice of head wear incites anger. Proud to be a turbaned Sikh (and reader of celebitchy).
how come nobody is screaming cultural appropriation? Someone wears dreadlocks these days and everyone flips out…but no outrage over the turban
I think it’s because most of Nick’s turbans look more like something Joan Crawford would have worn, rather than the religious garments worn by Sikhs.
LOLOL
Haha that’s awesome!
I’m pretty sure my grandmother has the same pink turban, although her’s had a feather attached to the jewel.
@M….EXACTLY!!!!!
I went through the whole article waiting for her to shred nick for C.A.. I guess I need it explained to me why this is ok but Giselle gets crusified.
He said in an interview that he’s wearing the turban so that he can remember that black folks are descended of kings and queens. Whether or not you believe that, considering some of the things that have been going on historically and recently, his desire to remind himself and others that African Americans deserve to be honored, protected and cared for is an honorable one.
Ridiculing that is an asinine thing to do. But we all know Dane Cook is a dude bro and a jackass.
Also, the Planned Parenthood as a tool to kill black babies relates to a very real fear. The US has a looooooong history of experimentation on black and brown bodies without consent – Tuskegee, HELA, the fact that everyone using birth control pills is benefitting from experiments on Puerto Rican women, the history of US sterilization of black and brown women without consent. It’s not what Planned Parenthood does now, obviously, but black folks have never, in our several hundred year history in this nation, had a time in this country where we haven’t had to be vigilant about what white people are doing and how it affects (threatens) our safety and well being.
“It’s not what Planned Parenthood does now, obviously, but black folks have never, in our several hundred year history in this nation, had a time in this country where we haven’t had to be vigilant about what white people are doing and how it affects (threatens) our safety and well being.”
This is really important to remember. Planned Parenthood is part of the solution, not the problem, but we should all think twice about rushing to judge the “paranoia” of people of color. Our national history of exploiting and experimenting on them is too fresh and too horrible to expect blind trust. Same problem with cops; it’s really rich to expect young black men to view the police as anything but their executors. White people can forget (or never learn) about our long history of dehumanizing under the guise of “justice” or “health”, but black families don’t have that luxury.
Your post triggered a memory of something i read a few months ago.
I think if i understand what you are saying, then Nick is a hotep.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/03/hotep_explained/
Thanks for posting that link.
So lemme get this straight:
A) What Year is this?? We Care about Dane Cook in 2016??
B) Is This Dane Cook’s Masculinity so fragile that he is in any way form or shape Bothered that Nick Cannon wants to look like a Bozo with his actual money on his own body on his on time?? Really??!!
“Is This Dane Cook’s Masculinity so fragile that…”
Don’t even have to finish the sentence. Yes. The answer is yes. He built his comedic “empire” on punching down, on misogynistic and classist jokes that were meant to prove how little f***s he gave, but in reality showed how much his life revolves around toxic masculinity.
Ten bucks says he’s gonna start selling them.
Dane Cook is a ridiculous man. It’s 2016, it seems that he didn’t get the memo that people get to wear whatever they want. (I also resent that fact that he’s made me defend Nick Cannon, who at the best of times annoys me to no end. Gawd.)
The turban look is a good look! People in the 50s (I think 50s) used to wear them all the time. I want a turban too! But I wouldn’t want to offend anyone. I just think turbans and head scarfs are so beautiful. Nick looks amazing in it and he seems very interested in the Sikh culture. Dane is a stupid effing moron who no one gives a sh!t about.
I don’t think turban wearing Sikhs would be offended. I am one and I’m not offended. I’ve helped people at bus stops to tie one on. They love the look. Look at the beautiful head dresses of Africa as well. Wear your crown!
My first thought also was that the turban style suits him – he looks good.
He’s ready for his close-up Mr. DeMille.
As a Sikh, I can tell you that MANY Sikh men wear a turban but still shave their beards. It’s become more of a fashion statement than religious attire now a days. Sikhs are not the only religion to wear turbans just so you know. I believe he said he wanted to get more in touch with his roots.
He referenced Moors in his instagram post. Moors were a strong civilization in Africa and yes they are often shown as haven worn turbans similar to what Nick is wearing.
Black people in the diaspora can’t seem to win. We try and find out roots and we are told to stay in our lanes. Some cultures really don’t know how lucky they are to be able to trace their histories back so long.
You do realise that ‘Moors’ has no ethnological value? It was a catchall phrase for Blacks and Arabs and Muslim Europeans. Moors were not limited to North Africa. They were in the Iberian peninsula (modern spain, portugal and parts of France), the Middle East, Malta, Sicily etc. It was short-hand for *dark-skinned people, or rather non white people and later Muslim people.
*the shade of brown didn’t matter. From Olive colour of Arabs to blue black colour of Nubians. All were called Moors.
The worn turbans across the region was part of the traditional dress of each tribe of moors, worn for practical, religious or fashion reasons. They are not universal because we in the modern world have created a universal fashion turban as showcased above.
The differences can still be seen today because turbans worn by Sirks are different from those worn by Tuaregs ( as an example)
Finally, if you want to trace your roots, send for gene testing on your mitochondrial DNA. You can trace your roots as long ago as 1000yrs. You can also trace the migration of your ancestors through it. It’s fascinating thing to do because you can walk in your ancestors footsteps to a very accurate degree AND it will throw up surprising genetic markers from unexpected places.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mitochondrial_DNA_haplogroup
Hmm if someone is genuinely trying to link to their roots, that’s great.
A man wearing a hot pink turban and then uses vague instragram hashtags about it can be safely assumed to be doing it for attention.
Shouldn’t everyone be screaming “cultural appropriation” at him ?
Well, Dane Cook looks in the mirror every day and realizes he’s Dane Cook, and still goes out in the world, so…
Wow, cultural appropriation just doesn’t happen when someone of another race wears the garb or emulates customs of another. It’s about a race holding power and resources doing those things, taking from a marginalized culture. Black people as a whole do not hold power and privilege in US society, so Nick Cannon, as a black man from a marginalized culture, cannot culturally appropriate. Kardashians, as white women can. It’s offensive when they do….point blank.
As for Nick it’s cool he’s learning. And thanks to hkk for the post about turbans.