Stevenson (pictured) spent three months working on the campaign and released the image to fans as a ‘sneak peak’ on Thursday
An Instagram influencer who was accused of culturally appropriating black women by creating a campaign with braids in her hair has lashed out at the ‘crazy one per cent’ who abused her.
Sarah Stevenson, who operates under the Instagram handle Sarah’s Day, feels ‘too scared’ to say anything anymore after she was allegedly bombarded with hateful messages and death threats this week.
The 27-year-old shared a video collaboration with Australian fashion label White Fox Boutique which featured pictures of herself wearing her hair in two long braids with colourful extensions, and was immediately accused of cultural appropriation.
Stevenson was also accused of deleting messages trying to educate her on the social ramifications of her post, even after issuing an apology to her followers and agreeing to scrap the entire campaign.
On Saturday, Stevenson shared an update with her 1.1 million Instagram followers to say she had started shooting an entire new launch for the activewear line.
The mother to 14-month-old Fox explained she was exhausted after a full day of taking selfies for the launch.
She revealed she had to drop her son to her parents home to babysit overnight so she could take the photos of herself uninterrupted.
‘I’m walking on egg shells right now,’ she said in the video.
The new look campaign will primarily be pictures of Stevenson that she has taken of herself, as seen above
‘I’m getting full on hate death threats to me and Fox. It’s brutal… I know 99 per cent of you follow me because you love me, but that one per cent – they’re crazy.’
Stevenson lamented having to spend all day taking photographs of herself and said she was feeling ‘fragile’ after receiving so much backlash.
‘It was such a stressful day,’ she said. ‘Am I ever going to feel normal again?’ she asked her followers.
‘I feel like I can’t be honest with you and tell you what I’m going through because people will say I’m playing the victim.
She said she is ‘obviously still very fragile’.
‘I’m not playing the victim, but I’m feeling very fragile,’ she repeated.
Stevenson, who refers to herself as a ‘Holistic Health Princess’, said she spent three months working on the campaign, which was scrapped hours after her sneak peak reveal.
‘This screams cultural appropriation’ one person wrote, while another described the initial post as ‘problematic.’
Ms Stevenson (pictured with partner) has since issued a lengthy apology over the campaign, saying she had never intended to offend anyone
‘I’m disappointed in her,’ another said, while a third added: ‘Your lack of awareness and belief that you can just delete comments of people trying to educate you, is disrespectful and concerning.’
‘Blacks and people of colour get ridiculed and don’t get jobs based on their hair even NOW, so when a white person does it and gets applauded… that’s the problem,’ another said.
The viewers claimed that Stevenson’s style of two chunky braids with hair extensions was appropriated from the African American community who adopted the look as a way to maintain their hair.
Stevenson, who is from Sydney, issued a lengthy apology over the campaign, but was then slammed again for choosing to leave the video up online.
The new campaign, which will feature pictures of Stevenson in the clothing that she took inside her home, will launch 11am on June 2nd.
And while she’s excited for the launch, Stevenson is concerned she will be dogged by the ‘fear of being wrong, scrutinised or offending someone’ into the future.
‘When I say that out loud, I get all these hate messages saying I’m playing the victim,’ she said. ‘I’m scared of saying anything.’
She said the abuse had led her to ‘hate social media’, later saying she wanted to retire and be a full time mum.
But in the middle of her six-minute long rant, the fitness blogger instead changed her tune, describing herself as ‘happy… glitter amongst the glue.’
Ms Stevenson is a popular fitness influencer with over a million followers
‘I am a happy girl. I am the sunflower in the field of thorns. I am the glitter in the glitter pen, the glitter amongst the glue,’ she added.
In response to the backlash for the initial post, Stevenson said the hairstyle was inspired by seeing pictures of festivalgoers at Coachella.
‘I’ve been doing as much research as I can regarding the topic of cultural appropriation and I’d be lying if I said I completely understood what was ok and what wasn’t,’ Stevenson posted on Thursday.
‘This uncertainty and sadness in my heart has led me to pull the campaign. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. That was never my intention,’ she said.
Stevenson said in her apology she was feeling ‘drained’ having to start the campaign from scratch after three months of work but wanted to avoid any conflict.
‘I just get sad if I make anyone upset you know,’ she said.
While some people said she did the right thing by deciding the re-do the campaign, others argued people were too sensitive.
‘White women can’t braid their hair?’ one person asked.
‘Sarah did the right think by recognising a mistake. It is appropriation [because it is] based on the style of the braid and adding extensions – the style came from the black community as a way to maintain and keep their hair healthy,’ another said.
Ms Stevenson said in her apology she was feeling ‘drained’ having to start the campaign from scratch after three months of work but wanted to avoid any conflict