Gay, White Tik Tok User Gets Backlash for Lauryn Hill Tattoo

Tik Tok user, Ashton_got_baez, has a Lauryn Hill tattoo on his bicep and the internet isn’t feeling it. When I saw Lauryn Hill trending, I thought she was announcing a solo tour or posting that The Fugees’ 25-year Reunion tour was back on the table. Imagine my disappointment when I read through the tweets.

@ashton_got_baezi’m my biggest problem and da only solution.♬ I Get Out (Live) – Lauryn Hill

Ashton posted a video on Tik Tok of him lip-syncing lyrics to Hill’s song, “I Get Out It,” from her MTV Unplugged album. As he’s lip-syncing, there’s a big Lauryn Hill tattoo on his forearm, which looks new since that area is bright red. Ashton’s tattoo is from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album cover, which is similar to Kehlani’s tattoo. He actually gave Kehlani a shout-out when he first revealed his tattoo.

this is the one where he shows the tattoo pic.twitter.com/EbPF78S4eg

— renee☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ (@renoccoli) March 8, 2022

Social media was outraged about Ashton’s Lauryn Hill tattoo because her song is about systematic racism yet he doesn’t represent that struggle. 

that white person on tik tok who got that lauryn hill tattoo perfectly captures the way white queer people will view their queerness as adjacent to blackness… the way he word for word copied black women’s videos about their hair while attending a PWI… babe like what

— renee☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ (@renoccoli) March 8, 2022

This song is about how the system uses & abuses black people. It’s not about dating. How do you tattoo Lauryn Hill’s face on your body not knowing you benefit from the system she’s singing about? pic.twitter.com/xDaz5MfsV9

— Michelle🖤 (@Michelle_Fit_) March 7, 2022

The colonizers have discovered Lauryn Hill pic.twitter.com/UacV0U0foV

— GᗩTEKEEᑭEᖇ Oᖴ ᒪᗩᑌᖇYᑎ ᕼIᒪᒪ ✨ (@Sontieee_) March 7, 2022

WHITE PEOPLE BEFORE YOU LISTEN TO LAURYN HILL MUSIC REMEMBER THIS! yasss go stream katy perry and LEAVE HA ALONE pic.twitter.com/JkwM0x3OPq

— keke ♡ 🍬🧁 yoongi day (@94MEGMANI) March 8, 2022

I’m sorry but a yt person with a Lauryn Hill tattoo feels like a microaggression https://t.co/OGQ9kgam29

— AJ Ferguson (@tinnkky) March 8, 2022

this dude gets his whole personality from black women and then turns about and get lauryn hill on his body https://t.co/H140kL1h7H

— 🪐veah-bunny | HOBI MONTH (@jkrealbf) March 7, 2022

Ashton recently posted on Tik Tok and doubled down on his tattoo. He said, “…I just want to hop on here and say…I love my fucking tattoo and I’m sending love to each and every one of you. ‘Cause Idgaf anymore. I tried to give a fuck, bitches still get mad. So what am I doing from now on? Not giving a fuck. And I’m gonna walk in my light because I’m healed as shit…”

@ashton_got_baezy’all gotta realize real life aint like online lmao also imma need black twitter to heal cuz oof it lacks love n light heavily♬ original sound – Ashton Baez

Ashton_got_baez has a Puerto Rican flag in his bio, so he isn’t a traditional European white person. However, he is still considered white, so he is still appropriating. Twitter user @Renoccoli summed it up by tweeting this:

i also want to reiterate that while although i am a queer woc, i am not black, and in turn we should look towards black women who are the victims of such appropriation and hatred caused by whiteness + white queerness on how to react to these situations. listen to black women!!!

— renee☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ (@renoccoli) March 9, 2022

Should there be more open conversations about white latinx people and black culture or is this just another drag of a white person appropriating and we leave it at that? Leave a comment below!

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