TikTok star Renata Ri responds to racism allegations over “ugly black men” comment
TikTok: riwwwRussian TikTok star and Instagram influencer Renata Valliulina has claimed that a clip alleging she said “ugly black men” was actually mistranslated, denying she made the racist remark.
Valliulina, who goes by just Renata Ri or ‘riwww’, was accused of making a racially insensitive comment, after a clip was translated, claiming she said that while she was in a foreign country, there were only “ugly black men.”
Being asked about her dating life on a Russian show, the translation claimed that she responded “I traveled for a year. There were only ugly black men.”
The video was posted to TikTok by numerous accounts, accusing Renata of being racist.
Renata responds to racism accusations
After seeing the backlash, Renata posted a response on her Instagram Story. In it, she argues that the clip was mistranslated and that she did not make a comment about “a specific race being ugly.”
“I would do a live to address this, but my English is not great and this is a sensitive topic so I wouldn’t want to say anything in an incorrect matter [sic].
“However, whoever translated this interview did a very poor job. In the Russian language with the proper context I was saying that I was stranded in a foreign country surrounded by foreigners far from my home. Nowhere did I say anyone was ugly, nor did I ever mention anything about people from a specific race being ugly.”
However, Russian speakers did not agree with Renata’s claim that the clip was mistranslated, and instead, say that it was accurate.
“I speak Russian and she is lying,” one commenter replied. Another responded “Does she not know people speak Russian? BABE I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID.”
In Russian, the most commonly used word for a black person is ‘Negr/Negry’, which is generally not deemed offensive, but is simply the equivalent of “black.” However, Russian speakers claim that Renata used “negra” (Russian: негра), which is the offensive version of the term, and can be heard in the clip.
“The translation is correct. (I speak Russian) She said the n word instead of black men,” a Russian speaker responded.
Renata has over 13.2 million followers on TikTok, and her short videos regularly cross over into millions of views. She is also popular on Instagram, with 500,00 followers, and her previous 2 million follower account is no longer available.