A Brazilian influencer has come under fire after it was belatedly revealed that she posted a photo featuring the so-called "slant-eye" gesture mocking Asians to celebrate advancing to the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Because the team Brazil defeated in the round of 32 was none other than Japan, the act amounted to mocking Japan and all of Asia through a representative form of racism targeting East Asians. This marks the second time a "slant-eye" gesture has become a public issue at this tournament.
Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, said via Facebook Friday that "the Brazilian influencer 'brenndamaral' posted a 'slant-eye' gesture mocking Asians along with acquaintances on her social media story after the Brazil-Japan round of 32 match ended on the 30th of last month."
He added, "After receiving many tips from netizens and verifying them, I found that it was also introduced on China's 'Hupu.com' and elsewhere." The influencer also appears to have later become aware of the racism controversy, but instead of apologizing, she chose to switch her social media accounts to private. As of Friday, her Instagram account, which has 18,000 followers, is set to private, and her other accounts including TikTok and Threads are also inaccessible.
This is not the first case of harm involving the "slant-eye" gesture. Earlier, a Korean YouTuber known as "Inonyang," who has approximately 6.6 million subscribers, went through a similar experience on the 12th of last month. While watching the first Group A match between Korea and the Czech Republic at a stadium in Mexico, a Mexican male spectator made a gesture pulling both eyes into slants toward Inonyang's camera. As related media reports continued and his identity was revealed, the man issued a public apology through a social media post. Seo stressed, "This Brazilian influencer must also make a public apology."
