Awkwafina announces Twitter break, responds to cultural appropriation criticism

Awkwkafina responded to longstanding criticism that she uses a fake “blaccent” in her comedy while announcing that she’s retiring from Twitter.

On Saturday, the star addressed the situation in a lengthy note on Twitter in which she acknowledged the ‘sociopolitical context" of the issue and acknowledged that she is being accused of stealing form or parodying a community that "is disproportionately affected by institutionalized policies and law enforcement policies - all the while having historically and routinely seen their culture stolen, exploited and appropriated by the *dominant* culture for monetary gain without acknowledgment nor respect for where those roots come from."

She went on to note that Internet culture has led to AAVE being thought of as slang that’s available to everyone. However, she stated that there is a "fine line between offense and pop culture."