Megan Rapinoe rose to prominence after being attacked by former President Trump for her pro-women stance. As a representative of the liberal agenda, Megan was given numerous chances as she led Team USA to victory. However, after making a “racist” tweet that fed into America’s anti-Asian sentiment, the soccer player has been placed on the receiving end of Cancel Culture.
Despite her new title as Victoria’s Secret’s poster girl, Rapinoe has been making headlines on social media with some outrageous opinions. The provocative post by Rapinoe was directed at Natasha Kai, a professional soccer player and Olympic gold medalist from Taiwan. Kai states that she is of mixed race; she is half Chinese, Hawaiian, Filipino, and white in addition to being part white. Nonetheless, the racist tweet issued by Rapinoe provoked an outcry on Twitter.
Although Rapinoe did not tweet this recently, the 35-year-old soccer player sent the message to Kai nearly 9 years ago on May 19, 2011. The resurfacing of the old tweet is now coming back to bite her.
“u look Asian with those closed eyes!” Rapinoe wrote on Twitter.
Rapinoe’s scathing tweet was in response to an account that has since been deactivated. It is unclear what, exactly, the National Women’s Soccer League player was responding to when she called the person a “racist.”
Rapinoe has been put in a difficult position now that an old tweet of hers has become popular again. Since the anti-Asian message she tweeted some time ago has resurfaced, Rapinoe has been facing many negative comments online.
“I wonder what day she decided to stop racism?” one person said.
One person criticized Rapinoe for tweeting her opinion on a BlackBerry phone: “I’m not ashamed for your racism against Asians. I’m ashamed you owned a BlackBerry when iPhone was the superior smartphone.”
“People, remember nothing will happen to her. She’s on that one side. You know the side that would have literally anyone else gone by now for a tweet from 2011 with 200 likes, lmao. AND FROM A BLACKBERRY Face with tears of joy,” @SirJohnTheIV wrote on Twitter.
Victoria’s Secret chose as a brand ambassador for LGBTQ advocacy. He was previously critical of the lingerie company, claiming it was “patriarchal, sexist, viewing not just what it meant to be sexy but what the clothes were trying to accomplish through a male lens and through what men desired. And it was very much marketed toward younger women,” It also had a “really harmful” message for women everywhere since it was marketed toward younger females.
“When the world was changing, we were too slow to respond,” said chief executive Martin Waters in an interview with the New York Times. “We needed to stop being about what men want and to be about what women want.”
Rapinoe is not only successful on the soccer field, but she also wants to achieve success in social activism by working with Victoria’s Secret.
“Often, I felt myself on the outside looking in with brands in the beauty and fashion industry,” Rapinoe said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to be creating a space that sees the true spectrum of all women.”
