STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Ice-T Defends Coco After the Internet Comes for Her for Wearing Cornrows

She named her 'do the "Coco Swoop."

Coco Austin has a new hairdo and it's attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. We're about to embark on a wild ride, so let's unpack, shall we?

Two days ago, Coco debuted a new look on Instagram. Her long, blonde hair had been styled into braids, more specifically cornrows. "I call um Da Coco Swoop," she wrote. Well, while her creative name may be new, nothing else about the cornrows is. Appropriating a style that belongs to Black culture is one thing, but some Christopher Columbus-esque whitewashing of the name of a style that's been around for ages really was the nail in the coffin for Coco. A commenter noted, "Them is corn rows aka lemonade braids try again," signaling that if this hairstyle was going to be named for any one person, it would certainly be Bey and not Coco.

Matters only got worse when her husband, Ice T, came to her defense. In a tweet addressed to Ice, someone wrote, "I blame black men for allowing their white significant other to even remotely think this was ok." Ice's response? "Wrong for what? Braiding her hair?? You sound Dumb." The internet responded swiftly, reminding him that above all, Coco did not invent this hairstyle and shouldn't pretend as such.

Some pointed out that Coco's been wearing similar braided styles since the early 2000s, but that doesn't really help her case at all. Sorry, Coco, but both this hairstyle and its name don't belong to you. As Solange said, some s**t is for us.

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.