Camila Cabello Defends Dancer Accused Of Wearing Blackface On 'The Tonight Show'

Grammy-winning singer Camila Cabello has addressed accusations that one of her backup dancers, Dylan Pearce, wore blackface on "The Tonight Show," where she recently performed her new single "Don't Go Yet."

"Hey! so this dude was just supposed to be a white man with a terrible spray tan," she wrote on a note which she posted on Twitter on July 25. "We purposefully tried to pull together a multicultural group of performers, the expectation was not that everyone in the performance needed to be Latin."

She also added a photo of her backup dancer in his costume for the show. It was the same photo Pearce shared on his Instagram Story.

According to Vox, blackface is "much more than just dark makeup used to enhance a costume." It is said to have originated from minstrel shows in the mid to late 19th century, in which white actors would routinely apply black grease paint on their faces when playing the roles of plantation slaves and free blacks.

Prior to sharing her note defending Pearce, Cabello posted a short video of herself with host Jimmy Fallon. In the said clip, Fallon can be seen playfully telling the singer "Don't Go Yet" as she waves goodbye and moves away from the stage.

"Fallon tonight," Cabello wrote in the caption.

Cabello and her backup dancers appeared on the show sporting colorful 1980s outfits and makeup looks. However, many noticed the heavy makeup the dancers wore during the performance, particularly by Pearce.

"Camila what was going on with Dylan's makeup? is he your dancer or Fallon's? we all go through a lot to defend you from unnecessary hate, but having a dancer do blackface on stage in 2021 is absurd and you know better than that! say something immediately," wrote Twitter user @felarafa.

"I loved you so much, but I am SO disappointed. This is by far the lamest excuse for racism that I have ever seen in my entire life. You didn't even try to apologize here. I am so so so disappointed with you, seriously," Twitter user @lmjgabx also commented.

However, the "Havana" singer said she did not intend to offend anyone with their getup.

"There are white people, African American people, Latin people, etc., and so the point wasn’t to try to make everyone Latin either…There are a lot of people in the performance who are not. The point was to try to make each person look like an over-the-top 80's character just like in the video, including a white dude with a terrible orange spray tan," she explained in her statement, which she ended with a heart emoji.

In a separate tweet, Cabello pointed out that she and her team wanted to cultivate a positive vibe. She also thanked her fans for their support.

"… on my team we try to create a culture of kindness, joy, & love & you could feel that this week. none of this could be possible without the dream team that makes it happen & the fans that continue to support," she said.