Singer and TV host Gwen Stefani has faced backlash over her claim of being Japanese.

In an interview with Allure magazine, Stefani, who is of Irish and Italian descent, was discussing her GXVE beauty brand and the influence of Japanese culture on her childhood when she made the comment.

“My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it,” Stefani said in the interview, which was released on Tuesday.

She described her father, who is Italian American, working for Yamaha and traveling between California and Japan as a source of her Japanese influence.

“That was my Japanese influence and that was a culture that was so rich with tradition, yet so futuristic [with] so much attention to art and detail and discipline and it was fascinating to me,” Stefani told Allure editor Jesa Marie Calaor, who is Filipino American.

Stefani also spoke about her father’s stories of Japanese street performers cosplaying as Elvis Presley and women with colorful hair. She also said that when she grew older, she traveled to Harajuku, a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, known for eclectic clothing stores and cosplay shops. Harajuku eventually served as inspiration for her fragrance line, Harajuku Lovers.

“I said, ‘My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it,” Stefani said. Calaor wrote that Stefani’s words “seemed to hang in the air” between them.

Stefani also stated that she considered herself a “super fan” of Japanese culture. However, this is not the first time Stefani has faced accusations of cultural appropriation.

With the release of her 2004 album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby, and the tour that followed, Stefani faced criticism for featuring four Japanese backup dancers: Maya Chino, known as Love, Jennifer Kita, known as Angel, Rino Nakasone, known as Music, and Mayuko Kitayama, known as Baby.

Calaor wrote, “Like Stefani, I am not Japanese. But I am an Asian woman living in America, which comes with sobering realities during a time of heightened Asian American and Pacific Islander hate.”

“I envy anyone who can claim to be part of this vibrant, creative community but avoid the part of the narrative that can be painful or scary.”

Stefani’s comments generated widespread backlash online.

One commenter wrote, “The white culture of thinking you can identify as a person of color simply because you like something about that culture. It is not appreciation.

“It is exactly the theft and erasure that live at the origin of genocide, enslavement, and colonialism.”

Another commenter wrote, “God, imagine being an Asian American editor and hearing Gwen Stefani repeat over and over again, ‘I’m Japanese.’

“People like Gwen Stefani can adopt all the cool things they want from Asian cultures, yet won’t have to worry about being pushed off a [New York City] subway platform because of her race.”

This comment was in reference to the death of an Asian woman who was killed last year. The author Roxane Gay also tweeted about the incident, “Gwen Stefani’s publicist must be busy today.”

According to Allure, a representative for Stefani indicated that her comments had been misunderstood.

However, when asked for an on-the-record comment or clarification, Stefani’s team declined to provide a statement.