Aussie TikToker Kat Clark has been embroiled in a controversy after she and her daughter were criticised for having a lack of POC creators to their Sunny Dé x Supré event.
Last week, Sunny Dé — owned by Kat Clark’s 14-year-old daughter, Deja — and Supré held an event for their upcoming collaboration. However, the event caught some flak online, with netizens claiming that there was a lack of POC creators present.
In response, Clark shared a video addressing the accusations, which has amassed more than 4.3 million views at the time of writing.
“Today was supposed to be a big moment for Deja, but instead, she’s getting accused for not having People of Colour at her event,” Clark began in the viral video.
Clark went on to explain how the collaboration with Sunny Dé and Supré was a big deal and that it was important to pick a Woman of Colour as a model for the brand, as Deja is of Filipino and South African descent.
“When it came to choosing a model, it was really important for Deja to have a Woman of Colour,” Clark said.
“Mainly because growing up in Australia, Deja always felt different and embarrassed because she was the only black girl at her school. Kids would tease her all the time. There’s actually only 1.3 Black Africans who live in Australia. [Note: she clarifies in the video that 1.3 means 1.3 per cent.]
“Now, because Deja was the only African girl at her school, she made a lot of white friends. I mean, it’s pretty hard to make friends with other black girls when you’re the only one in the school.”
Clark went on to add that a number of the guests at the event were Deja friends, and claimed that the event had a diverse attendance list which featured micro-creators, large influencers and people of all ethnicities.
“Now, some of the girls here are Deja’s friends because this is a big deal for her,” Clark continued.
“We also had all different types of creators. Some creators we’d never met before, we had micro-creators, large creators, and creators of all ethnicities. We didn’t invite people to this event based on their skin colour.
“This was about celebrating Deja, her first-ever event, a 14-year-old Black Australian business owner who was showing young girls everywhere that their dreams are possible, even if they do feel different.”
Creators respond to Kat Clark’s video addressing the Sunny Dé x Supré event
Shortly after Clark shared the video, netizens took to the comments, highlighting that not having as many POC and WOC creators at the event was a missed opportunity to spotlight these influencers in Australia.
“No Australian brands have a problem with anyone that isn’t white or white/racially ambiguous, every single event is like this. There are so many black creators in Australia,” one person commented.
“Kat, there are sooo many black creators. And they’d be so willing to travel to support another black entrepreneur. Not saying you HAVE TO invite them, but can we as a society make an effort to recognise them so that they can have these opportunities too,” another TikToker penned.
“I love you Kat. You know the importance of inclusivity. Unless the collection is only meant for those white friends, this is just excuses,” another person commented.
Fellow Aussie influencer Kristine Achayo (@kristyachayo) stitched Clark’s response video, highlighting a series of Australian black influencers who would’ve loved to support Deja and her collaboration with Supré.
“This is just mind-boggling,” Achayo began her video.
“I can name so many, so many, Black influencers in Australia that have either an agency or they’re very active on socials and they have emails you can reach out to directly,” she continued.
“If the brand was in Sydney, there is Jessica Rugaruza, Joy Rugaruza — they’re sisters and the fit the aesthetic. There’s Victoire, she is from Queensland as well. There is Jemima, I’m pretty sure she’s from Perth.
“These are content creators that are active. They are Black. They are People of Colour. They fit the niche.”
Achayo went on to say Clark’s comments were “naive” and that while she claimed there weren’t that many black people in Australia, there are so many Black creators on the internet.
“I think this was just such a naive comment to make because even though there’s not many Black people in Australia, there’s a lot on the internet,” she added.
One fashion creator who slammed Clark’s response was Mulan (@_mu14n_), who labelled the video as “insane” and said it “severely missed the mark”.
“Here’s the issue, I’ll put it very, very blankly. You cannot profit off the Black community by pushing this narrative that your daughter is this young, Black entrepreneur who was bullied and is doing it for all the Black girls, and that she was oppressed and only grew up around white people and then in the same breath say, ‘We didn’t even consider colour when picking creators’. What do you mean?” Mulan shared.
Mulan then added that she thinks the video was quite “contradictory”, as Clark talked about how her daughter grew up in a predominantly white space but supposedly had a lack of POC presence at the event.
“At the end of the day, you can invite whoever you want, but I think it’s really insulting to your community when you come on here and try to justify it because — I feel like it would’ve been better received if you were like, ‘You know what? We did make an error. We should’ve included more People of Colour. That’s our bad, we will try better for next time.’
“And at the end of the day, it’s actually your loss because the Black girl community here in Australia is some of the most supportive girls in the world and we would’ve turned up for her.”
Brooke, who posts under @ewwitsbrooke, expanded on Achayo’s video, stating she believes Clark’s response to the accusations has opened a discussion about POC representation in Aussie media.
“I think that his Kat Clark, Deja, Sunny Dé, Supré event has very much opened a very interesting conversation about diversity and all I have to say about it is be the change you want to see,” Brooke began in her video, which now has more than 104.3K views.
“Kristine actually made a really, really great video about this and named up just a couple of amazing People of Colour influencers that definitely would have either bought flights or had their own accommodation even if they, you know, if they could be a part of it, and I think that’s also an important conversation to have.
“You have a seat at the table and making room for others so that they too can have an easier way to have a seat at the table, so we can see more people that look like us in the media.”
Brooke also reflected on her experiences growing up in Australia, revealing that, similar to Deja, she grew up in predominantly white spaces. However, if she had opportunities like Deja, she would make sure her fellow POC creators would also have a space in mainstream media.
“I think that I want to be the change that I want to see, that when you have a seat at a very exclusive table, such as the influencer landscape, that top-tier influencer that typically — especially in Australia — that typically white women they are, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I think when you do have a seat at a table that people that look like you typically aren’t at, there is that unspoken word where it’s like you’ve made a seat at the table,” Brooke continued.
She went on to acknowledge that while it looks like the collab / the event was at the helm of Deja, a 14-year-old, she expressed that adults would’ve also been involved in the organising process.
“As much as this business is probably looks like it’s at the helm of a 14-year-old, I think we can be very honest in ourselves that knowing that there are adults also at the helm of this,” Brooke continued.
“As much as like this might have been an event to celebrate with her friends, of course, and they might be predominantly white, that’s so fine. I do think that this cannot be ignored as a marketing event either.”
Finishing her video, Brooke added that this was a productive discussion about diversity across the board and that she hopes this is a learning opportunity for Clark and Aussie brands.
“If you didn’t grow up as a person of colour, seeing people that look like us in those spaces that are predominantly white, why don’t we try and change that? And why don’t we try and, you know, incorporate that? Um, that’s, that’s kinda all I have to say,” Brooke shared.
At the time of writing, Clark has not responded to the discussions surrounding her response video.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Kat Clark for comment.
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