--- --- # Justin Bieber is Under Fire for His New Dreadlocks by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Apr 5, 2016 12:29 PM UTC by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Apr 5, 2016 12:29 PM UTC Justin Bieber is being accused of [cultural appropriation](http://time.com/4011171/cornrows-and-cultural-appropriation-the-truth-about-racial-identity-theft/) after debuting his new dreadlocks on an awards show. The controversy began on April 3, when the 22-year-old singer appeared at the IHeartRadio Awards show and posted a series of pictures of his new look on Instagram. Critics took to social media to air their displeasure at a white male appropriating a look considered to be a traditional black hairstyle. > [](https://twitter.com/horanxaesthetic/status/716484947792388096) > [](https://twitter.com/floppycurls/status/716851259186110464) This is not the first time the singer has been criticized for his hair. In a picture posted on Instagram three months ago, Bieber is seen touting cornrows. However, the star did not seem too keen on the style, saying: “Hailey made me get corn rows…these will be off tomorrow.” Justin Bieber is Under Fire for His New Dreadlocks ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4281839/justin-bieber-dreadlocks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4281839/justin-bieber-dreadlocks/"},"headline":"Justin Bieber is Under Fire for His New Dreadlocks","datePublished":"2016-04-05T12:29:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:27:45.479Z","description":"His new look has divided fans","url":"https://time.com/4281839/justin-bieber-dreadlocks/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4281839/justin-bieber-dreadlocks/","name":"Justin Bieber is Under Fire for His New Dreadlocks"}}]}] ```