Though the internet has made even the most trivial details of celebrities' lives a 24/7
consumable product, there are still a few things you might not know about your favorite
stars — like their racial heritage.
Diversity of race, culture, and tradition is prevalent and celebrated around the world
now more than at any time in human history.
According to NPR, mixed-race people are one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S.
population.
So who are the multiracial celebs you might have missed?
From longtime favorites to emerging artists, let's take a look at some celebrities you
didn't know were biracial.
Aubrey Plaza
Best known for her breakout role as April Ludgate, TV's favorite millennial stereotype
on NBC's Parks and Recreation, actress Aubrey Plaza was born to a white mother and Puerto
Rican father.
She told Cosmopolitan,
"A lot of people don't assume I'm Puerto Rican because I'm fair skinned.
But I feel very connected to that side of my family."
"Every family party, we'd end up salsa dancing.
We still do, pretty much."
However, Plaza told Latina magazine that being biracial often puts her in an uncomfortable
spot.
She explained,
"I was winning the diversity awards and people were always calling bulls--- on me.
I won the Hispanic teenager of the year and I felt terrible."
Regardless, Plaza used her platform to help raise funds for the U.S. territory following
Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Pete Wentz
You probably don't listen to Fall Out Boy and instantly think "reggae," but bassist
Pete Wentz knows all about it.
His mother was born in Jamaica, and his black maternal grandfather served as U.S. Ambassador
to Sierra Leone.
Wentz told Altpress,
"I grew up going [to Jamaica] a lot.
I didn't appreciate then that while Bob Marley and the Wailers are cool, it goes much deeper
than that."
The rocker is also related to former U.S. Secretary of State ColinPowell.
Wentz told Vice in 2013 that Powell is his great uncle, and shared,
"I met him around Desert Storm.
[...] I remember asking him, 'Oh man!
Are you going to be using bazookas?'
I can't even imagine, like, wow.
What a goofy thing to ask."
J. Cole
Rapper J. Cole was born to a white mother and black father and raised in the military
town of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The hip-hop artist says his biracial identity offers him a unique perspective, telling XXL
magazine,
"I can identify with white people.
[...] But at the end of the day, I never felt white.
I don't know what that feels like.
I can identify.
But never have I felt like I'm one of them."
Cole went on to explain that he identifies more as a black man, since, based on his looks,
that's how he's always been treated.
He added,
"When you get pulled over by the police, I can't pull out my half-white card.
Or if I just meet you on the street, you're not gonna be like, this guy seems half-white."
Ryan Lochte
Although swimmer Ryan Lochte could be the poster boy for white dude bro culture, his
mother, Ileana "Ike" Lochte is Cuban.
She was born in Havana before immigrating to the United States to escape the Castro
regime.
Ike and her family eventually settled in Florida, which is where Ryan Lochte wound up training
to become a 12-time Olympic medalist.
His mother told NBC News,
"When he won the gold medal […] all I could think about what was my parents went through
and how he's there representing the United States, and my parents wanted us to be there
so badly, to be in the United States."
As a swimmer, Ryan consumed 8,000 calories a day.
"I mean, who likes eating greens?
Ugh."
What did his diet consist of when he visited his mom?
Lots of Cuban food, of course.
Ike told NBC Latino,
"When he comes home, he has picadillo, he has ropa vieja, anything that he wants."
Halsey
Singer-songwriter Halsey burst onto the international music scene with her debut album, Badlands.
Although she looks white, the New Jersey girl is biracial — born to a white mother and
a black father – and she wants the world to know that.
The electro-pop singer explained in a 2017 interview with Playboy,
"I look like a white girl, but I don't feel like one.
I'm a black woman.
So it's been weird navigating that.
When I was growing up I didn't know if I was supposed to love TLC or Britney."
For Halsey, being biracial prompted some unfortunate childhood moments.
She told Vulture,
"When I was little, if someone saw me and my dad walking through, like, a grocery store
parking lot, women would come up to us and be like, 'Sweetie, are you okay?'
Because they saw a little white girl walking with a black man."
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