Camila Cabello

Submission 38,174

About

Camila Cabello is a Cuban-American pop singer known for her work with the girl group Fifth Harmony and her solo career after leaving the group.

History

Camila Cabello was born March 3rd, 1997 in Cojimar, Cuba.^[1] She first entered the public eye as a contestant on The X Factor, a Simon Cowell reality show which led to the creation of the girl group Fifth Harmony. She was a member of the group from 2013-2016, departing on December 18th, 2016 to go solo.^[2] As a solo artist, she grew popular with tracks including "Never Be The Same" and "Senorita" (shown below).

Reputation

When Cabello left Fifth Harmony, she and the group gave contradictory statements about the departure. The group said in their announcement that they were "told via Cabello's representative" that she was leaving the group.^[2] Cabello countered on Instagram, "I was shocked to read the statement the Fifth Harmony account posted without my knowing. The girls were aware of my feelings through the long, much needed conversations about the future that we had during tour… Saying that they were just informed through my representatives that I was ' leaving the group' is simply not true."

Cabello began dating fellow singer Shawn Mendes in July of 2019, and the couple has been accused of being in a relationship as a PR stunt, which they have denied.^[3]

Racist Tumblr Posts Controversy

On December 17th, 2019, Twitter^[4] user @motivatefenty began a thread exposing racist and offensive memes and posts Cabello had reblogged and made on her Tumblr account, vous-etess-belle (examples shown below).

The posts' exposure caused Cabello to apologize on her Instagram and Twitter^[5] for the posts, writing:

“When I was younger, I used language that I’m deeply ashamed of and will regret forever. I was uneducated and ignorant and once I became aware of the history and the weight and the truth behind this horrible and hurtful language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever used it…
I apologized then and I apologize now. I would never intentionally hurt anyone and I regret it from the bottom of my heart. As much as I wish I could, I can’t go back in time and change things I said in the past. But once You know better, you do better and that’s all I can do. I can’t say enough how deeply sorry and ashamed I feel, and I apologize again from the bottom of my heart.”

Online Presence

Cabello has a large online following. On Twitter,^[6] she has over 10.3 million followers. On Facebook,^[7] she has over 3.4 million likes. On Instagram,^[8] she has over 45 million followers. A devoted subreddit ^[9]for Cabello has gained over 22,000 subscribers since its creation in March of 2014.

Shawn Mendes Kiss

On September 11th, 2019, Cabello and Shawn Mendes posted a video responding to critics of recent paparazzi photos of the pair kissing. In the video, the pair intentionally do an over-the-top kiss with a lot of open mouth and tongue. The video was deemed particularly cringeworthy by social media users and gossip blogs.^[10]

#NeverBeTheSameVideo

#NeverBeTheSameVideo is a hashtag with which people discuss the music video for Cabello's song "Never Be the Same." A scene in which the singer is draped in a red, plastic-looking fabric prompted parodies in which Twitter users compared the shot to various red snacks and food items. On March 8th, 2018, Cabello released a music video for her song "Never Be the Same." The song gained over 9.6 million views in less than five days (shown below).

Immediately after the video was released, fans began parodying a scene in the video in which Cabello is draped in a red fabric by comparing the scene to red foods. For example, Twitter user @snugglycamila uploaded a comparison between Cabello and a ketchup bottle, gaining over 150 retweets and 770 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @streammila uploaded a comparison between Cabello and a red sandwich wrap, gaining over 430 retweets and 1,900 likes (shown below, right). The tweets were covered by Daily Dot the day after the video was released.