An interview with Allure got weird after Gwen Stefani was asked by an Asian reporter about her Harajuku era.

Jesa Marie Calaor, a Filipina American and senior editor at Allure, wrote in an article published Tuesday that during a 32-minute interview with Stefani which was meant to promote the launch of her vegan beauty brand, GXVE Beauty she asked the former No Doubt frontwoman if she had learned anything from her Harajuku days, when she adopted the styles and attitude of the avant garde Tokyo district. The question has been asked by other publications due to the criticism Stefani received years later that she had appropriated Japanese culture .

In response, The Voice judge defended this phase in her career, asserting twice that she was Japanese to Calaor.