90 Day Fiancé Season 9 recently premiered, and one of the new cast members is stirring up controversy already. Following Before The 90 Days Season 5’s controversies with Alina Kozhevnikova’s racist social media posts and Mike Berk’s equally problematic memes, another new cast member is facing criticism from viewers regarding her social media. Miona Bell, the Serbian woman who is engaged to South Dakotan Jibri Bell, faces accusations from fans online of participating in the practice known as “Blackfishing.”
Blackfishing is described online as a practice when influencers or other people alter their appearance or style in an effort to look as though they are Black. 90 Day Fiancé fans began to question if Miona Bell was guilty of that after comparing pictures from years past to how she currently looks.
EVERY question for Miona at the tell all better be about the blackfishing because wtaf is going on here #90DayFiance pic.twitter.com/UwalBTnejaApril 18, 2022
The drastic difference between her skin tones in the two pictures led to questions online about her ethnicity, and whether she’s emulating a look popularized by Kim Kardashian, someone who also faced accusations of Blackfishing and other instances of cultural appropriation in her career. Other celebrities accused of Blackfishing include Iggy Azaelea, Ariana Grande, and Selena Gomez.
Of course, one distinction between those celebrities and Miona Bell is that details on their ethnicity are publicly out on the internet. This is not the case for the Serbian 90 Day Fiancé cast member. Bell is seemingly aware of the criticisms circulating the internet about her, and in a reply on Instagram (via screenshot by True Crime Jankie) said the following about those wondering about her ethnicity:
Let them wonder it keeps me relevant! It wouldn’t be fun if I solve the mystery. P.S. I’m definitely not trying to be something I’m not, love and light to all of you.
Miona Bell’s comment indicates that there’s more to the story than currently meets the eye. 90 Day Fiancé Season 9 (which will eventually be available to HBO Max subscribers) only just started, so it’s fair to say that fans might learn something about Bell’s heritage in the upcoming episodes that could explain away the growing controversy surrounding her photos.
At the same time, it doesn’t seem like a great idea to have a controversy like this hanging over Miona Bell’s head as she and Jibri Bell begin their run on 90 Day Fiancé. TLC cut Alina Kozhevinikova and Caleb Greenwood’s storyline short after her racist controversy, and other controversial couples like Paul and Karine Staehle were uninvited from tell-all specials due to drama in their life that occurred outside of the show.
It’s possible that the two Season 9 newcomers could have the same thing occur before the end of 90 Day Fiancé, especially if there is not a clear explanation to the Blackfishing allegations by fans. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what future episodes bring. 90 Day Fiancé airs on TLC on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. The new season has just begun, so now is as good of a time as any to dive in and get sucked into one of the best reality television franchises out there.
