In a post shared on Instagram, Brittany Renner appeared to respond to criticism she faced after she removed her hijab for the first time following her conversion to Islam last year when she started dating her ex-husband, Kevin Gates.
Since converting to Islam—a decision she told People in May made her life "better in every single category"—Renner had only appeared in public wearing a hijab. But more recently, she's shared multiple pictures without it on and has faced criticism from social media users. Alongside a photo of her in a lace Fashion Nova dress and rocking her natural hair, she wrote, "I don't ask for permission or forgiveness, nor am I in the business of convincing."
She made a similar post last month, revealing that she wore cornrows underneath her hijab just so that she could get her hair to fit under it.
"I'm not interested in shrinking myself to fit in anywhere," she captioned the video, seen below. "I don’t have blind loyalty to any person, place, or thing. I also don’t need excuses to do what I want to do because I accept whatever comes behind my decisions. It’s still Alhamdulillah for everything! Hope this helps."
In Islam, it is a personal choice for women to wear a hijab, although it is mandatory in many Muslim countries.
The 33-year-old influencer, who also starred on the VH1 show Basketball Wives, stopped wearing her hijab as recently as last month. She's since made it clear, however, that she's still Muslim despite the change in appearance.
It also came not long after she confirmed her split from Kevin Gates. She confirmed that they had gotten married, but they got divorced after just 52 days. "We got married April 6 and divorced May 28," Renner said in an interview with REAL 92.3 LA. "I followed my heart, and that's what more than most people can say, and I think when you do that, you get all the clarity you need, and there's no stone left unturned, and there's no regret."
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