Influencer known for her resemblance to Kylie Jenner apologizes for racist comments: 'I'm admitting 100% to my mistakes'
A popular influencer is apologizing after her racist comments leaked online.
Fyza Ali, 29, who is based in Dubai and shares the Instagram account SoniaxFyza with her 26-year-old sister Sonia Ali, has made a name for herself online in part due to her resemblance to Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. In addition to sharing beauty content, the account — which boasts more than 1.3 million followers — documents her and Sonia’s glamorous lifestyle, such as their designer outfits and beach vacations.
However, earlier this month, Fyza came under fire after a voice memo from her Snapchat account was leaked on social media. In the voice memo, Fyza makes many racist comments against the people of Pakistan, telling the woman she is speaking to that she should “go back to where they are f*****g from, where they f**** donkeys for money, and have no f*****g money,” and that she could take her dad and “he could be my f*****g slave.” Fyza and Sonia are reportedly of Pakistani descent themselves.
Shortly after receiving backlash from followers about her words, The Daily Mail reported that Fyza took to her Instagram account to say she would not be apologizing for her comments, writing on her Instagram Story, "I won't apologize for defending myself in anger because I simply had enough."
Following the leak, companies Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and Shein reportedly decided to stop working with the sisters, per The Sun.
Now, Fyza is explaining her actions further. In a new Instagram video, she claimed that her intense reaction was due in part to the recent death of her mother. She had taken some time off social media to reflect, and upon her return, is now “admitting 100% to my mistakes.”
"What I said, what she said to me could have been said by any nationality, but I attacked her simply because of anger,” Fyza explained. “That is weak and no excuse for racism. As a human being I'm admitting to my mistakes, I was racist towards this girl. I'm sorry, to her, her family that's been affected her friends, people who love her, and also the people that I affected who supported me."
This is not the first controversy that Fyza and Sonia have faced. They were previously accused of having surgery to look more like members of the Kardashian-Jenner family, which they both have vehemently denied. In a 2017 interview with Refinery29, Fyza said while she has altered her face with fillers, it wasn’t to look like the reality stars.
"We were in L.A. for the whole month in July [to attend events], and I think that's when all the negativity started happening,” she explained at the time. “It was really confusing for us. While we were there, a website did an article about how we got surgery to look like the Kardashians. Everyone is open about surgery in the Middle East, but it's offensive to say you got it to look like someone else.”
