'Half a Samoan' - Rita Ora misidentifies Taika Waititi ethnicity

In a surprising turn of events on The Voice Australia, singer Rita Ora mistakenly referred to her husband, acclaimed Māori filmmaker Taika Waititi, as “half a Samoan”.

The statement arose when fellow judge Jason Derulo queried contestant Marley Sola from Christchurch about his musical background.

Sola mentioned his roots in the Samoan Seventh Day Adventist Church and identified as part-Samoan. Derulo shared that he felt a bond with Sola due to his “Samoan tattoos” and his Samoan security guard. Eager to draw a connection, Ora interjected: “I’m married to half a Samoan man, so…”

Ora and Waititi made their marriage public in January, following speculations about a private wedding ceremony last August. The couple has been reportedly together since the early months of 2021.

Taika Waititi and Rita Ora at Tthe 2023 Met Gala Celebrating "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Photo / Noam Galai/ GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images (Noam Galai/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty)

Contrary to Ora’s remark, Waititi has consistently identified with his Māori whakapapa.

He has detailed his lineage, noting his father’s Māori and “a little bit of French Canadian” background, while his mother hails from Russian Jewish, Irish and other Pākehā lineages. He’s also previously labelled himself as a “Polynesian Jew”. It’s plausible Ora intended to use the broader term “Polynesian” - instead of the specific “Samoan”. There’s also the possibility she was highlighting the whanaungatanga between Māori and Pasifika given the tongue-in-cheek context of her conversation.

Celebrating his 2020 Academy Award victory for the best-adapted screenplay for Jojo Rabbit, Waititi dedicated the achievement to indigenous people worldwide, saying, “I dedicate this to all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art and dance, and write stories, we are the original storytellers and we can make it here as well.”

Earlier in the year, inspired by Waititi, Ora revealed on BBC Radio 1 her endeavour to incorporate te reo Māori into her waiata.