Nadia Nakai is not offended that Isidingo used her no-make-up snap as a plot point in an episode.
The 27-year-old rapper recently found herself fodder for cyber bullies, after the bare-fared snap surfaced online.
Critics were quick to pass judgement on how different the star looks without her usually perfectly made-up face.
The snap was taken at a guest lodge where Nadia and her beau, Bandile Mbere, were enjoying some quality time for Valentine’s Day.
Plenty of Twitter trolls threw shade at Nadia, dubbing her “unrecognisable” in the new photo.
But not everyone was critical of Nadia’s bare-faced look. Using the #NadiaNakaiMakeUpChallenge, women started posting side-by-side snaps of themselves with and without make-up.
Nadia’s photos gained so much traction that they even made their way into an episode of local soapie, Isidingo. In one scene, two characters discuss the difference between Nadia’s bare-faced photo with one of her usual looks, even mentioning Nadia by name.
Nadia’s close friend and label boss, Cassper Nyovest, slammed the show for the skit.
“Someone sent me this clip of Isidingo shaming Nadia Nakai, like all the other cyber bullies,” he captioned the clip on Twitter. “I wonder how they think the poor girl will feel. Wow.”
But Nadia says she isn’t hurt by it – in fact, she fully understands why Isidingo chose to feature her.
“I understand that they need to keep their script current and this is something that they usually do. So, I don’t expect them to treat the situation differently, just because it’s me.
“I don’t feel like they shamed me or owe me anything, but they did add fuel to the fire, which was unnecessary and that’s why Cassper commented.”
Isidingo spokesperson Sumaya Mogola was shocked when YOU phoned them for a comment regarding the tweet.
“We did not mean to offend anyone,” she said. “Isidingo strives to stay current with whatever is trending or in the news and usually work it into the show.”
“We also did not mean to offend Nadia Nakai. She is beautiful with or without makeup. She is just a beautiful girl.”
As for the #NadiaNakaiMakeUpChallenge, Nadia says she’s proud of how women turned something that was meant to shame her into an opportunity to embrace their natural beauty.
She admits she was initially hurt by the challenge, but now she loves what it has come to stand for.
“I actually think it’s a dope challenge, women took something that was supposed to be hurtful and turned it into something positive.
“They rallied behind it, shared pictures of themselves and started embracing their natural selves.”
The Naa Meaan hitmaker says it was actually Cassper who pointed out the benefits of the Twitter trend.
“I won’t lie, I was very hesitant when this all started but Cassper was the one who said that it’s good that I can inspire women to love themselves and have that kind of influence.”
“Cassper is like my brother and he knows how something like this affects me, so I understand where he was coming from.”
