Is Doja Cat white? All about her parents as singer's ethnicity comes under scrutiny amid backlash over Sam Hyde T-shirt drama

Doja Cat continued to court controversy over the recent Sam Hyde T-shirt debacle as netizens questioned her black/Jewish heritage after she was pictured wearing a t-shirt featuring a Neo-Nazi.

The singer posted a picture of herself on Instagram on October 6, 2023, wearing a t-shirt featuring an image of Sam Hyde, an ardent sympathizer of Neo-Nazi groups. The since-deleted image triggered a widespread backlash among netizens. Social media users slammed the singer over the offensive post that was perceived as the singer’s admiration for Hyde, who has publicly shown support to alt-right and neo-Nazi groups.

On the heels of the controversy, netizens raised questions about the singer’s ethnicity, with many claiming that the recent post was indicative of her white privilege.

However, Doja Cat, whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, is not white. The singer is a biracial woman, born to a white Jewish mother, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, and a South African father, Dumisani Dlamini.

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What we know about Doja Cat's parents

In the wake of the controversy swirling around Doja Cat over the Sam Hyde T-shirt drama, several people invoked the singer's race in the online discourse. The backlash triggered a volley of comments where netizens conflated the singer’s perceived ideology stemming from the Hyde post with racial dynamics.

Some went on to claim the singer was predominantly white suggesting her race was indicative of her ideology. Amid the scrutiny, here’s everything we know about the singer's parents.

The Grammy winner is the daughter of Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, a Jewish white woman who is a painter, and Dumisani Dlamini, an actor and a dancer in South Africa. Her father is known for appearing in the 1992 film Sarafina! alongside Whoopi Goldberg.

The singer, who was born from a brief relationship between her parents, was raised by her mother in the United States. Doja Cat said that she has never met her father, who resides in South Africa. The Grammy winner reportedly has not had physical contact with her father since her birth.

“He’s an incredible dancer and a great actor, But yeah, I don’t know him very well,” Doja Cat said in an interview with Radio One D.C.

The Paint the Town Red singer who shares a close bond with her mother, has expressed deep admiration for the woman who raised her in multiple interviews.

“My mom is, like, a hippie from the ‘60s, super, like, chill with most things. When it came to music and everything, she wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to hear it,” the singer said during an interview.

Social media users opined that Cat’s recent post featuring Sam Hyde indicates that she leans into her white heritage more than her Black roots.

Although Dlamini and Doja Cat are not close, he expressed his pride for his daughter on social media in multiple social media posts.

Meanwhile, the singer has yet to address the recent controversy.