Zendaya, Willow Smith and Kiernan Shipka slammed over 'cringey' cover of David Bowie's 'Changes'

The video shared on Instagram drew flak after Zendaya was spotted rocking David Bowie’s iconic mullet haircut and reading lyrics off a piece of paper
UPDATED JAN 9, 2022
Zendaya, Willow Smith and Kiernan Shipka have been slammed (Photos by Instagram@wmag)
Zendaya, Willow Smith and Kiernan Shipka have been slammed (Photos by Instagram@wmag)

To mark David Bowie’s 75th birthday, Hollywood star Zendaya, singer and actress Willow Smith, and ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ starlet Kiernan Shipka covered the late singer’s iconic song ‘Changes’ with a short video from. The cover was posted by W Magazine. However, the birthday tribute soon turned out to be a cringe-fest as the loyal fans took to Twitter and Instagram to brutally mock the trio. 

The video shared on the official Instagram account of the publication drew flak after star Zendaya was spotted rocking Bowie’s iconic mullet haircut while Willow Smith and Kiernan Shipka were seen in loud makeup slightly hinting towards David Bowie’s love for make-up.  Social media users dubbed the trio as demented and wished young folks would stop engaging in cultural misappropriation. David Bowie’s ‘Changes’ was released in 1972 and the music video posted on Instagram was helmed by Lynn Hirschberg and was originally released in 2016, just two months after Bowie died at 69.

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Zendaya, Willow Smith, and Kiernan Shipka face heat

Whilst sharing the video, the publication captioned the post as, “In honor of what would have been #DavidBowie’s 75th birthday, watch as the stars deliver a heartfelt rendition of the legendary rocker’s hit song.” Soon the comment section of the post got flooded with comments trolling the trio. Zendaya, in the short clip, was seen reading the song’s lyrics off a piece of paper as she could be seen holding the page in several frames. Bowie’s fans slammed her for not knowing the lyrics by heart.



 

‘This whole thing is so misguided’

On Twitter, social media users mocked the trio as one of them posted, “Let's cleanse our ears by hearing Dave do it, live. After which, he thanks my old band for opening for him that night and the two previous!” Another shared, “I wish young folks would stop engaging in cultural misappropriation by covering classic rock from the boomer generation.”  Whereas, one added, “I can think of worse things this generation does but paying tribute to Bowie is not one of them. Tough crowd.” One user stated, “I’m sure it sucks but so what. Bowie rules.” Meanwhile, another added, “They could have just let Gal Godot's Imagine be the worst thing a celebrity has "sung" but no.” Another on Twitter joked, “He's turning over in his grave.”

One on Instagram dubbed the 2016 cover as “cringe” as another commented, “Why are they reading these iconic lyrics off a page!!??? If they don’t know them off by heart like any Bowie fan then...". One irritated Bowie fan added, “This is so insulting to David Bowie, on his birthday of all days." While, one wrote, “WTF. Who in the hell did makeup on these poor girls. This whole thing is so misguided. Imagining Bowie watching this like “bloody hell!” And, one concluded, “This is demented. Lmao.”



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

A user commenting on W Mag's Instagram video of David Bowie's cover (Photo by Instagram@wmag)
A user commenting on W Mag's Instagram video of David Bowie's cover (Photo by Instagram@wmag)
A user commenting on W Mag's Instagram video of David Bowie's cover (Photo by Instagram@wmag)
A user commenting on W Mag's Instagram video of David Bowie's cover (Photo by Instagram@wmag)
A user commenting on W Mag's Instagram video of David Bowie's cover (Photo by Instagram@wmag)
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