Benny Blanco defends Latin album Hermoso as people call him out for ‘cultural appropriation’

Musician Benny Blanco is being heavily criticised for his new album and name after people on social media have discovered he’s not actually Latino.

Over the past two decades, Benny Blanco has built a name for himself as a hitmaker and production genius. Before we knew him as Selena Gomez’s husband, he was working on huge songs like I Kissed A Girl and Payphone. But many people don’t know much about his personal life and background.

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Benny, whose real name is actually Benjamin Joseph Levin, grew up in the suburbs of Virginia and is both ethnically and culturally Jewish. Despite this, his stage name involves Spanish, and his newest album Hermoso has a fully Spanish track list.

In an interview with El País, Benny explained why he wanted to create a Spanish-speaking album at this point in his career.

“I grew up in an area with a large Latin population, so that music has surrounded me since I was a child. You’d get in the car, and Jeanette would be playing; in another car, cumbia would be on,” he said. “I was always drawn to the drums and how the rhythms interacted with each other. It’s a culture that’s always full of fresh ideas and people who aren’t afraid to go against the grain.”

benny blanco unveils the tracklist for his upcoming album 'Hermoso' out this week. pic.twitter.com/1MS53X9AtU

— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 10, 2026

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Despite this explanation, he’s still receiving a lot of backlash from people on X and TikTok who find his adoption of Latin culture offensive.

“A grotesque and racist caricature,” one person said under a tweet of his album cover.

“Has anyone asked him why he pretends to be Latino?” added another.

The album cover for Hermaso, which means beautiful, is a caricature of Blanco himself, who has been heavily criticised online for his appearance. His last big viral moment was that infamous feet moment from his podcast with Selena Gomez.

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Featured image via DFree/Shutterstock