Fifth Harmony’s Normani Kordei Claps Back At Her Racist Trolls

As the only African-American member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, Normani Kordai receives markedly different treatment from fans on social media. The singer told Us Weekly that though all her fellow Fifth Harmony members fall victim to cyberbullying, Kordei's haters are far more sinister. "There are people creating photoshopped pictures of me getting beat as if I were a slave back in the day," she says. The Twitter hate has even extended to her grandmother, who also uses the social-media platform. The bullying mounted after Kordei called fellow group member Camila Cabello "quirky" in an interview for Facebook Live. Cabello's fans tore into Kordei for the comment and as a result, the singer left Twitter in early August. Not one to let the trolls win, Kordei returned to Twitter on September 13. This time around, she's got a plan: She partnered with the nonprofit Cybersmile to raise awareness for online hate. "The hate is not going to stop," she says, "but I needed to make a point that you can’t run away from a bully. You can’t allow someone’s hate to dictate your life." Now, Kordei's doing the dictating. She created the hashtag #ImaCyberSmiler. Its purpose? To show you're not alone. Kordei says that loneliness is the real enemy. "You can make videos and share your stories to show people that you’re not alone and we can support one another," she says. "Knowing that you’re not alone really does make all the difference in the world." Welcome back!