Celebs You Didn't Know Were Biracial

Though the internet has made the minutiae of celebrities' everyday lives a 24/7 consumable product, there are still a few things you might not know about your favorite stars, like their racial heritage. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Halle Berry, Drake, Mariah Carey, Barack Obama — these are some of the most famous mixed-raced celebrities, but diversity of race, culture, and tradition is prevalent and celebrated around the world now more than at any time in human history. Populations of various colors, ethnicity, and languages can now be found in the most massive metropolis or the smallest town. According to NPR, mixed-race people are one of the "fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population." The swirl is coming! 

So who are the multiracial celebs you might have missed? From musical icons and sports stars to legendary superheroes and emerging artists, let's take a look at some celebrities you didn't know were biracial. 

Born in Washington D.C. to a Mexican-Jewish father and an Irish mother, comedian Louis C.K lived in Mexico until he was 7 and learned Spanish as his first language. Calling himself an "accidental white person" in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2013, C.K. claimed that when his family relocated to Boston, people saw that he was "white with red hair."

"Race doesn't mean what it used to in America anymore," he said. "It just doesn't. Obama's black, but he's not black the way people used to define that. Is black your experience or the color of your skin? My experience is as a Mexican immigrant, more so than someone like George Lopez. He's from California. But he'll be treated as an immigrant. I am an outsider. My abuelita, my grandmother, didn't speak English. My whole family on my dad's side is in Mexico. I won't ever be called that or treated that way, but it was my experience."

Bob Marley brought reggae to the masses and became a musical and cultural icon while adorning dorm room walls across America and beyond. Growing up in abject poverty in the slums of Jamaica, Marley escaped obscurity with his sheer talent and willpower. In a sad bit of irony, this towering legend might have never been born if it weren't for the British colonial service. 

"Nesta Robert Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in St. Ann Parish, Jamaica. His father was a white British naval captain named Norval Sinclair Marley, who was nearly 60 at the time. His mother, Cedella, was a 19-year-old country village girl," reported Biography. "Because of his mixed racial makeup, Bob was bullied and derogatorily nicknamed 'White Boy' by his neighbors. However, he later said the experience helped him develop this philosophy: I'm not on the white man's side, or the black man's side. I'm on God's side.'"

Best known for her breakout role as April Ludgate, TV's favorite millennial stereotype on NBC's Parks and Recreation, actress Aubrey Plaza was born to a white mother and Puerto Rican father. "A lot of people don't assume I'm Puerto Rican because I'm fair skinned," she told Cosmopolitan. "But I feel very connected to that side of my family."

However, Plaza told Latina magazine that being biracial often puts her in an uncomfortable spot. "I was winning the diversity awards and people were always calling bulls*** on me," she said. "I won the Hispanic teenager of the year and I felt terrible. I always felt like I didn't deserve to win because I was really half [Latino]."

Regardless, Plaza used her platform to help raise funds for the U.S. territory following Hurricane Irma in 2017. "Please join my family to raise funds for Puerto Rico!" she tweeted. "Help rebuild paradise with us! We [heart] Puerto Rico!"

Although swimmer Ryan Lochte could be the poster boy for white 'Merica dude bro culture, his mother was born in Havana, Cuba before emigrating to the United States to escape the Castro regime. She eventually settled in Florida, where Lochte began training to become a 12-time Olympic medalist.

"When he won the gold medal ... all I could think about what was my parents went through and how he's there representing the United States, and my parents wanted us to be there so badly, to be in the United States," his mother, Ileana Lochte, told NBC News. "And to see him up there with the American flag, it was great."

As a swimmer, Ryan consumed 8,000 calories a day. What did that diet consist of when he visited his mom? Lots of Cuban food, of course. "When he comes home, he has picadillo, he has ropa vieja, anything that he wants," Ileana told NBC Latino. 

Singer-songwriter Halsey burst onto the international music scene with her debut album, Badlands, and although she looks white, the New Jersey girl is biracial — born to a white mother and a black father – and she wants the world to know that. 

"I'm white-passing. I've accepted that about myself and have never tried to control anything about black culture that's not mine," the electro-pop singer explained in a 2017 interview with Playboy (per The Huffington Post). "I look like a white girl, but I don't feel like one. I'm a black woman. So it's been weird navigating that. When I was growing up I didn't know if I was supposed to love TLC or Britney."

Being biracial prompted some unfortunate childhood moments. "When I was little, if someone saw me and my dad walking through, like, a grocery store parking lot, women would come up to us and be like, 'Sweetie, are you okay?'" she told Vulture. "Because they saw a little white girl walking with a black man."