Singer Gwen Stefani faced backlash after saying, "I'm Japanese."

In an interview with Allure magazine, Gwen Stefani, who is of Irish and Italian descent, was promoting her beauty brand GXVE when she said, "Oh my God, I'm Japanese and I didn't know it."

The 53-year-old described the influence Japanese culture had on her childhood, when her father, who is Italian-American, worked for Yamaha and commuted from California to Japan.

"That was the Japanese influence and it was a culture that was so rich in tradition but so futuristic [with] so much attention to art and detail and discipline and it was fascinating to me," Stefani told Allure editor Jesa Marie Calaor. who is of Filipino and American descent.

She also said she considered herself a "super fan" of Japanese culture.

"I envy anyone who can claim to be a part of this vibrant and creative community, but avoid the part of the narrative that might be painful or scary," said the Allure editor.

Calaor wrote that Stefani said she was Japanese many times, but also said she identified with the Hispanic and Latino communities and was "a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of Japanese, a little bit of English."

Her comments sparked backlash online. “The culture of white people who think they can identify as a person of color simply because they like something in that culture. It's not an estimate. It's just like the theft at the origin of genocide, slavery and colonization," someone said.

Another wrote: "God, imagine being an Asian-American editor and hearing Gwen Stefani repeat over and over, 'I'm Japanese.'"

"People like Gwen Stefani can appropriate all the cool things they want from Asian cultures, but they don't have to worry about getting pushed in front of the subway because of race." This was a reference to an Asian woman killed last year who was attacked by a homeless man and pushed in front of the subway.

According to Allure, a rep for Stefani indicated that her comments were misunderstood.