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1 year ago
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Rita said that her husband is "half a Sāmoan man." But he's Māori.
Taika Waititi and Rita Ora recently celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary. Sure, the marriage is still pretty new, but you'd think that'd be long enough to know the basics about your spouse.
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But apparently not!
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During a recent episode of The Voice Australia, contestant Marley Sola gave a beautiful rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky." All the judges LOVED his performance, including Rita. When asked about his musical background, he shared that he grew up singing in a Sāmoan church and is part Sāmoan.
Seemingly trying to connect with Marley, judge Jason Derulo showed off some Sāmoan tattoos and said his security guard is Sāmoan.
And then! Rita said, "I'm married to half a Sāmoan man, so..."
Huh???
MTV
I'm half Sāmoan myself, and I think the phrasing here is hilarious. Rita didn't say, "My husband is half Sāmoan." She called him "half a Sāmoan man," LOL.
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
But the real problem here is that Taika Waititi is not actually Sāmoan. He's Māori.
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For anyone who doesn't know, Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa, the Māori-language name for New Zealand. Taika is one of the country's most celebrated filmmakers and has played a powerful role in bringing everyday Māori experiences and perspectives to the big screen. He's spoken extensively about indigenous and specifically Māori representation in cinema.
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Taika has also been open about his own background. His father was Māori, his mother is Jewish, and he calls himself a Polynesian Jew. As far as I know, he's never mentioned a single thing about being Sāmoan.
So, I was totally shocked when Rita called her husband Sāmoan! And I wasn't the only one:
Some people pointed out that Taika has spent his entire career telling Māori stories:
He spent his whole career telling innovative Maori stories, and advocating for native voices and storytelling on the big screen
And his wife doesn't even know he's Maori
Did they even have a conversation before getting married?!https://t.co/TVqL5YmjAA
Don Arnold / Getty Images / Twitter: @_vehia_
This person said they'd be upset if their spouse couldn't correctly identify their ethnicity...
If my spouse mis-identified my heritage...I'd be pissed...
— evilspacealien (@evilspacealien) August 25, 2023...and that indigenous people are "used to this," but not usually from their own significant others:
Us Indigenous people are used to this... usually not by our spouses
— evilspacealien (@evilspacealien) August 27, 2023And this person thought the whole situation was embarrassing:
Did Rita ora really say that her husband is half samoan? That's... embarrassing
— Laiga (@APFML27) August 24, 2023What do you think about all this? LMK in the comments below!
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