Ellie Goulding in a headdress

Ruffling feathers! Ellie Goulding's Halloween fancy dress sets off a race row with critics saying her Native American costume is 'no different to wearing black face'

Ellie Goulding posed for a picture in a Native American outfit for Halloween
Within minutes of sharing snap on internet, singer had been branded 'racist'
She was told wearing costume was 'no different than wearing black face'
Singers Sinitta and Cher have been seen in similar outfits in recent weeks
But Conservative MP Philip Davies called on the singer to ‘stick to her guns’
Miss Goulding said she wore the 'beautiful' headpiece for about five minutes
27-year-old to donate to campaign supporting Native American young people

By Sam CreightonWhen Ellie Goulding posed for a picture in her Halloween costume, she probably expected fans to admire her ‘beautiful’ Native American outfit.

What she might not have expected was to find herself at the centre of a race row.

But within minutes of sharing the snap on the internet, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding singer had been branded ‘racist’, ‘ignorant’, ‘insensitive’ and ‘deeply offensive’, and was told that wearing a Native American costume was ‘no different than wearing black face’.

Miss Goulding, 27, was following the example of dozens of stars–including singer Sinitta, Coleen Rooney, Cher, Harry Styles and Pharrell Williams–who have been pictured wearing Native American headdresses in recent months.Some background on Goulding:

Ellie GouldingElena Jane "Ellie" Goulding (born 30 December 1986) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actress from Lyonshall, Herefordshire, England. Her career began when she met record producer Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who later became her manager and A&R. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, later that year.

Outcome

As usual, non-Indians stuck up for the "right" of white people to be racist. A couple of brave souls went beyond the usual trolling in comments sections:

Here's Why I'll Be Wearing a Native American Headdress Next HalloweenOf course, if she'd actually wanted to be offensive, she might have donned the more recognisable modern Native American costume of a fleece jacket, vodka breath, a betting slip and a pair of jeans from Big and Mighty straining under the effects of a Taco Bell paunch. But I digress.Ellie Goulding's Native American costume defended by Conservative MP Philip Davies in racism rowThe Shipley MP–who recently accused Channel 4’s Jon Snow of behaving like a “playground bully” in a heated office row–has defended the singer, calling anyone ‘offended’ “idiots.”Short version of Davies: Indians are idiots. Yes, judging by these two examples, white people are racists.

Goulding didn't apologize for her Pocahottie costume, but unlike the racists above, she apparently recognized she did something wrong.

Ellie Goulding pledges to support Native American charity after picture mishapAnother Twitter user brought Goulding's attention to the Running Strong grant program for Native American youths and asked her to donate or support the charity, to which she replied, "Then I shall! Thank you."Of course, talk is cheap. I wouldn't bet a lot on her actually making a donation.

For more on the subject, see Gerard Butler's Girlfriend in a Headdress and Glenn Beck in a Headdress.