Sway House member Nick Bean under fire for allegedly racist video
Instagram: nickbeanSway House member Nick Bean has received backlash on social media after a video on Bryce Hall’s Instagram story appeared to show him doing the ‘fox eye’.
25-year-old content creator Nick Bean has a strong following on both YouTube and TikTok. His YouTube channel has 1.68 million subscribers while his verified TikTok account has 2.4 million followers.
As a member of the Sway House, he also collaborates with influencers such as Bryce Hall and Chase Hudson and is a frequent presence in their Instagram posts.
However, his latest appearance in TikTok star Bryce Hall’s Instagram story has caused controversy, as many viewers accused him of doing the ‘fox eye’ – a trend where people stretch their eyes to appropriate the Asian eye shape and is widely seen as an act of racial stereotyping and discrimination.
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It didn’t take long after the video surfaced for fans to express their dissent towards Bean’s actions. In a comment that received over 500 likes, one user said: “Him doing it and Bryce recording n putting it on his story just shows just how much-normalized racism against Asians really is [sic].”
Meanwhile, another user from an Asian background said that “as an Asian, we have been oppressed for SO long, and now the whites are trying to reclaim it. pls pls pls pls stop!! we are all human, and we should all treat each other equally. just be your own race, and don’t mock it. not that hard. [sic]”
Nick Bean, who is a member of the Sway House, was widely accused of cultural insensitivity by fans after the video was uploaded.Other fans tried to defend the TikToker. One user claimed that “he’s putting the middle fingers up to his face” as opposed to doing the offensive ‘fox eyes ‘ action, while another argued that people “can’t post anything anymore” without the fear of being criticized.
Despite these attempts at defense, it’s clear that the consensus is that Bean was acting offensively in this video. In one comment that got over 500 likes, a user said that the 25-year-old should know better, as he’s a “a very grown man”, and that “he should educate himself [about racism] without people asking him to.”
At the time of writing, Bean hasn’t responded to these allegations and despite the controversy, the video remains live on Hall’s Instagram story.