No harm, no foul! Maluma raised eyebrows when he shared a photo of himself kissing his mom, Marlli Arias, on the lips while celebrating Mother’s Day.
The Colombian singer, 25, captioned the Sunday, May 12, Instagram post, “Feliz día amor de mi vida, FELIZ DÍA MADRE,” which translates to, “Happy day love of my life, Happy Mother’s Day.”
In the comments section, some of Maluma’s 42 million followers questioned the way that the mother-son duo displayed their affection for each other. “WTF?! Is [she] your mother or your girlfriend?!” wrote one skeptic. Another Instagram user commented, “Dude, that’s sick.”
However, the “Mala Mía” crooner’s rep was quick to come to his defense, stating that the kiss is a “cultural thing.”
“The photo was truly a [sign] of genuine affection,” the rep tells Us Weekly. “In the Latin culture, as in many other cultures, kissing your parent on the lips is normal.”
The rep added to Page Six, “The beautiful thing is that he has been accepted in the American music market with open arms, and I think, now, where we are in this world with music, it’s really global. Now people are going to be able to see different sides of our culture in different ways.”
Maluma, who launched his career in 2010, has become one of the most recognizable names in Latin music since the genre started dominating Top 40 radio and streaming services in recent years. His fourth studio album, 11:11, is out on Friday, May 17, and he recently teamed up with Madonna on her new single, “Medellín,” which they performed at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards earlier this month.
“[My mom] loved it. She’s a huge fan [of Madonna],” Maluma (real name Juan Luis Londoño Arias) told Access at the awards show. “She’s a Madonna fan. She loves her so much.”
