Rita Ora issues a statement after performing with the Serbian flag

[TaylorSwift 161,483]

Rita Ora has been criticized after performing with the Serbian flag during SZIN Festival in Hungary.

In a statement to the media, she said the flag was given to her by a fan and she had no idea what country it belonged to.

"Last night while performing at the SZIN Festival in Hungary, I was given a flag by a young fan. Due to the bright lights aimed straight at my eyes and the stage, I could not see clearly which country's flag it was representing.

As soon as I left the stage, I realized that it was a Serbian flag and not a Hungarian one! While I support all my fans, from all countries and cultures, I must make it very clear that I am a proud Kosovo Albanian, and it was not my intention to disrespect my heritage, or upset my people or my family."
source

 

[nATAH 56,199]

is anyone actually mad

[River 126,508]

The real problem is that she performed in Hungary

[Lucas 30,827]

Just now, NATAH said:

is anyone actually mad

The people on social media will ALWAYS find reasons to be mad about something and act woke 

[Concertaholic 6,578]

Not her continuing to keep it on for multiple songs tho 

[TaylorSwift 161,483]

1 hour ago, NATAH said:

is anyone actually mad

Albanians

Rita was born in Kosovo(a province of the former Yugoslavia) to Albania parents.
After the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Kosovo sought its own autonomy and independence. Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanians.
Rita Ora, Dua Lipa, Ava Max families had to fled due to Serbian persecution.
In 1998, the Kosovo War began. Serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo in 1999, and the territory declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 but Serbia refuses to recognize it and for many people this conflict has never been resolved. In the comments below you can see people claiming that Kosovo is Serbian

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Economy 52,634]

1 hour ago, Lucas said:

The people on social media will ALWAYS find reasons to be mad about something and act woke 

Those ppl are so irritating. They detract from real issues

 

I know some ppl who have the opposite issue (not being woke enough) that dont take movements seriously and think were crazy cuz they automatically associate wokeness with the most extreme ppl on the internet and think were all like that

 

Social media really is the toilet of the internet. It was designed to pit ppl against eachother over petty stupid things that end up transcending into bigger things. We had more peace in our lives before social media 

[Bronco 23,626]

12 minutes ago, Economy said:

Those ppl are so irritating. They detract from real issues

 

I know some ppl who have the opposite issue (not being woke enough) that dont take movements seriously and think were crazy cuz they automatically associate wokeness with the most extreme ppl on the internet and think were all like that

 

Social media really is the toilet of the internet. It was designed to pit ppl against eachother over petty stupid things that end up transcending into bigger things. We had more peace in our lives before social media 

The ethnic tensions in the former Yugoslav Republic states are real issues. To this day there continues to be clashes and violence in Kosovo because of the unresolved issues between Serbia & Kosovo. In the last 18 months there were significant fears of the conflict reigninting because of increased clashes between Kosovo Albanians & Serbians during mayoral elections. To this day there continues to be international monitoring of the two nations to try and avoid a return to the conflict. 

[Admin 24,441]

1 hour ago, Lucas said:

The people on social media will ALWAYS find reasons to be mad about something and act woke 

 

17 minutes ago, Economy said:

Those ppl are so irritating. They detract from real issues

I know some ppl who have the opposite issue (not being woke enough) that dont take movements seriously and think were crazy cuz they automatically associate wokeness with the most extreme ppl on the internet and think were all like that

Social media really is the toilet of the internet. It was designed to pit ppl against eachother over petty stupid things that end up transcending into bigger things. We had more peace in our lives before social media 

Um… hello?

Rita Ora is from Kosovo and she just performed waving the flag of a country that doesn’t acknowledge her nation’s existence. It’s a very real issue 

[Lucas 30,827]

3 minutes ago, Admin said:

 

Um… hello?

Rita Ora is from Kosovo and she just performed waving the flag of a country that doesn’t acknowledge her nation’s existence. It’s a very real issue 

"Due to the bright lights aimed straight at my eyes and the stage, I could not see clearly which country's flag he was representing.

As soon as I left the stage, I realized that it was a Serbian flag and not a Hungarian one! While I support all my fans, from all countries and cultures, I must make it very clear that I am a proud Kosovo Albanian, and it was not my intention to disrespect my heritage, or upset my people or my family."

[Admin 24,441]

Just now, Lucas said:

"Due to the bright lights aimed straight at my eyes and the stage, I could not see clearly which country's flag he was representing."

So? I’m not saying she deserves to be cancelled or anything, obviously it was a mistake and she didn't do it intentionally. My point is that it’s not just people "acting woke”. This is a very serious issue.

[Butters Stotch 5,379]

The person who gave her the Serbian flag is toxic af 

[Lucas 30,827]

16 minutes ago, Admin said:

So? I’m not saying she deserves to be cancelled or anything, obviously it was a mistake and she didn't do it intentionally. My point is that it’s not just people "acting woke”. This is a very serious issue.

I think it's obvious that we were talking about people getting mad and acting woke in general, not in the Serbia/Hungary issues context

[Bronco 23,626]

2 minutes ago, Lucas said:

I think it's obvious that we were talking about people acting woke in stupid contexts (in this case being mad for someone's honest mistake), not in the Serbia/Hungary issues context

1) Serbia/Kosovo issues, the only relevance of Hungary is that is where she was performing. 

2) It may not have been people's intentions, but a number of the comments here looked like people without an understanding of the ethnic violence & territorial conflicts in the Balklans dismissing people who's very identity is contested by a genocidal state being angry at a clear attack on their identity. But really, you can't avoid the context on an issue like that because the context is *why* Kosovoan Albanians are mad, the mistake is only a mistake because of the Kosovoan conflict and the deliberate attempt at identity cleansing.

[Railing 2,799]

2 hours ago, Admin said:

Rita Ora is from Kosovo and she just performed waving the flag of a country that doesn’t acknowledge her nation’s existence. It’s a very real issue 

idk I find the whole thing stupid, and I think we need to separate a country's flag & name from a country's government; it's kinda weird to be like "you can't support this ethnic group because their government stinks"... by that logic, it should have been frowned upon to use the USA flag for anything from 2016-2020