Kim Kardashian has defended herself from criticism over her recent decision to wear her hair in braids, telling fans she’s “not tone deaf” and she chose the hairstyle because her daughter North had asked her.

The 37 year old mother of three wore Fulani braids at the MTV Movie and TV Awards last Saturday (June 16th), a style that can be traced back to the Fulani ethnic group in West Africa, but many people on social media called her out for cultural appropriation.

“You've literally become the face of cultural appropriation in America,” one critical follower wrote, while another exasperated commenter said: “The most annoying part is that at this point she knows what she’s doing, she knows what cultural appropriation is and that it upsets people yet she still chooses to do it because she knows it doesn’t upset the right ppl or cost her $$.”

Kim KardashianKim Kardashian at the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards

However, in a new interview with Bustle, Kim sought to set the record straight regarding how her new hairstyle came about.

“I actually did that look because North said she wanted braids and asked if I would do them with her,” she explained. “So we braided her hair and then we braided my hair.”

More: Kim Kardashian “screamed and cried” after Kanye’s slavery comments

It’s not the first time that Kim has been criticised for wearing her hair this way, suffering a similar backlash when she took to Instagram in January this year to show off blonde braids.

“I remember the backlash when I had the blonde hair and that I called them 'Bo Derek braids',” she continued. “But I obviously know they're called Fulani braids and I know the origin of where they came from and I'm totally respectful of that. I'm not tone deaf to where I don't get it. I do get it.”

“Maybe if I had come out and explained that from the beginning instead of calling them ‘Bo Derek braids’, then it wouldn’t have gotten such backlash,” she mused.

More: Kim Kardashian provokes fury with ‘appetite suppressant’ lollipop plug