Pretty Malaysian actress Wani Kayrie has sparked outrage after an old video of her dancing in blackface resurfaced on social media this week.
The blackface storm started when Twitter user ‘Danny Boo’ shared the clip on 18th June where it has already been viewed 150,000 times and been retweeted by nearly 3,000 netizens.
Danny Boo posted the video with the message: “She is ‘Wani Kayrie’ please PLEASE report her acc. She’s f*cking verified?! Blackface isn’t a f*cking joke holy shit. After everything?”
In the TikTok video, the 20-year-old actress is seen dancing outdoors while wearing black paint on her face and neck.
Credit: Newsflash/@wani.kayrie
Kayrie, real name Syazwani Abdullah, reportedly deleted the video from her TikTok account some time ago and it is unclear when it was first posted.
After the video resurfaced on Twitter, the actress used her account to apologise and ask netizens to remove the footage to avoid “spreading slander”.
She wrote: “I’m kindly asking for the video of yours to be taken down since I’ve deleted it to respect the community.
“And I wouldn’t [want] you to commit sins from my wrong deeds, dear. It would be spreading slander when I’ve taken down the video myself and you spread it all over again.”
Malaysian actress and singer, Wani Kayrie 
Malaysian actress and singer, Wani Kayrie
According to local media, Kayrie is currently shooting a drama about a princess cursed with black sin based on the Malaysian folklore tale ‘Dayang Senandung’.
The curse is eventually lifted when the character gives birth to a child in a castle.
Netizens called on Zeel Productions to halt filming after it restarted following a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An online petition to stop production has already received nearly 3,000 signatures.
Malaysian singer and actress Wani Kayrie playing with black face 
Malaysian singer and actress Wani Kayrie playing with black face
Following the backlash against Kayrie, Zeel Productions director Fadzil Teh defended the use of blackface in the production.
He said: “As producers, we only wanted to make a story based on a mythological tale.
“Our drama is not insulting towards people with black skin. In fact, we glorify them in our story.”
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Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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