- Kendall Jenner is being accused of cultural appropriation of her new brand of tequila.
- A tequila expert and professor opined on why people might be criticizing Jenner.
- She notes that other celebrities with tequila brands, like George Clooney, have not been criticized in the same way.
- Visit the Insider home page for more stories.
Almost immediately after posting a fun ad on Instagram revealing her new brand of tequila, 818, Kendall Jenner started to suffer a little.
While many friends, fans and family members praised the new business venture of the model and reality star, which she kept secret for almost four years, many critics on social media say that Jenner has no right to enter the tequila production industry. because she is not Mexican.
Critical comments range from people asking Jenner to credit the distillery in Jalisco where his tequila was made and the workers involved in making the drink to accusations of cultural appropriation.
The question of whether any non-Mexican person who makes tequila should be considered a cultural appropriation is not up to us, or anyone, to decide.
But seeking further clarification on the subject, we spoke with Marie Sarita Gaytán, associate professor of sociology and gender studies and author of “¡Tequila!: Distilling the spirit of Mexico”, who shared her thoughts on criticism – and in particular, by that the outrage over Jenner’s adventure is so prominent when she is just the last in a long list of non-Mexican celebrities to make their own tequila.
Jenner is far from the first non-Mexican celebrity to launch a tequila brand
In what was by far the most prominent and financially successful celebrity tequila venture to date, George Clooney and Rande Gerber made their Casamigos brand a household name in 2013, eventually selling it to Diageo for $ 1 billion in 2017. Many other celebrity-backed tequila launches followed.
Michael Jordan and a team of four decided to create a tequila that would suit their palates in 2019. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Nick Jonas, Rita Ora, rapper E-40, Adam Levine and Sammy Hagar, AC / DC, Justin Timberlake and Sean “Diddy” Combs are also among the celebrities who put their names and faces behind the Mexican spirit.
While it is clear that the supermodel and reality show star has not started the tequila-making trend among her famous colleagues, it is also obvious that she is being criticized more – or at least more visibly – than the rest of them.
Gaytán thinks the inconsistency of the reaction is important to consider and points to Jenner’s gender
Gaytán, a tequila expert, says the question is not a simple one and the debate does not have a clear answer.
“As my colleague Paisley Rekdal, author of ‘Appropriate: A Provocation’, reminds us, these debates are often framed in terms of right or wrong, good or bad,” the professor and author told Insider by email. “There is always more to them. These issues are thorny.”
Gaytán also agreed that, in his memory, the tequila brands launched by other non-Mexican celebrities before Jenner’s did not elicit the same response. “When people express outrage over Kendall Jenner’s tequila, I wonder why there was the same reaction to the launch of Justin Timberlake, Nick Jonas or Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson brands?” she said.
Gaytán suggested that some critics will use the idea that Jenner is “in it for the money” as a base to attack his business. But she says the reasoning “just doesn’t solve [because] they’re all in it for the money. “
She also pointed out that “there was hardly any mention of cultural appropriation” around the massive sale of Casamigos by Clooney and Gerber, and suggests that Jenner’s genre may have something to do with the reaction.
Jenner joins Rita Ora (who is a member of a Mexican distiller rather than a brand owner) and Bethenny Frankel (who started her SkinnyGirl cocktail brand with a margarita) as one of the few women in the tequila-celebrity space. Of the three women and their endeavors, Jenner and her prominent leadership position in 818 are arguably the most visible.
“When women ‘go out of their way’, whether in politics, business or, in this case, culture and entrepreneurship, it hits a nerve,” said Gaytán. “This, for me, is a much more interesting story.”
Gaytán explained why she thinks Mexicans and Mexican Americans are having a strong reaction to 818 at this particular time
Time is also a factor, with many possibly seeing the launch of Jenner’s tequila as the last straw in repeated instances of cultural appropriation – both by Jenner and his family specifically, and by wealthy and powerful individuals in general.
“In the case of tequila (and similar products of national origin), the accusations of cultural appropriation seem to happen when a celebrity from a different cultural background (that is, not Mexican) acquires or founds his own brand,” said Gaytán.
“To some extent, everyone gets involved in cultural appropriation,” she added. “Worldwide. This does not mean that the effects of the appropriation of a cultural product by everyone are the same – power, access, representation, all these dimensions are at stake ”.
She told Insider that one root of the problem that is causing outrage is that Mexican products and culture (like tequila) appear to have more value in the United States than Mexicans.
“For Mexicans and Mexican Americans living in the United States, it is certainly painful to see yet another non-Mexican capitalizing on their culture,” said Gaytán. “Why can it hurt? Well, for starters, even as I write, real Mexicans – mothers, fathers, children – are in cages, placed there by the United States government. This could not happen in a country that respected Mexicans as humans . “
Does Jenner’s audience care more about raising issues of cultural appropriation than Jordan’s or Clooney’s audience? It might be
Although time and gender can be factors here, I would say that the audience is another one that could be just as powerful.
Consider how different Clooney and Gerber’s audience is from Jenner’s. When the two men went out with Casamigos in 2013, their famous friends could be seen promoting the drink. The price range made it perfect for any adult with disposable income to buy a tequila that connected them with Clooney’s smoothness without breaking the bank.
People aged 18 to 35, who may be more in tune with issues of cultural appropriation, were not (and still are not) exactly the target market for that brand.
But Jenner’s entire brand as a millennial is based on this demographic. Their audience is largely (though not exclusively) composed of millennials and Gen Zers who are deeply involved and active on social media and who are deeply concerned with issues involving racial equality – and who are not shy about invoking cases of cultural appropriation when they see them.
Ultimately, it is not uncommon for movements made by members of the Kardashian-Jenner family to be placed under a microscope
Kendall is not the first in her mixed and extremely famous family to be criticized for a business decision or to face charges of cultural appropriation.
Kim Kardashian West’s shapewear was originally called a Kimono until she was called for appropriating the name of traditional Japanese dress and changed it.
Kylie Jenner was criticized for acting in the video for “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, with many critics calling the special participation “unnecessary” in a video that celebrated “black female excellence”.
And several family members, including Kylie, Khloe and Kendall herself, were called in for appropriating traditionally black hairstyles. Kim was even accused of blackface on her cover of Paper magazine, which critics said was inspired by racist images.
In the end, Jenner launching a tequila brand may be problematic, but it is no more problematic than Casamigos or any other celebrity tequila launch that came before him. And it’s important to consider why people are just calling it cultural appropriation now.
Jenner representatives declined to comment when they were contacted by Insider.