It used to be that when celebrities went out and got a tan, their biggest concern was looking too orange, or like an oompa-loompa. Nowadays, things are a little bit more touchy, with the rise of the term ‘blackfishing’ — it’s like catfishing, but instead of pretending to be somebody you’re not online, it’s where you purposefully present yourself as black or racially ambiguous online through use of hairstyles, makeup, and yes, self-tanner.
This phenomenon is mostly directed at influencers, but there have been a few celebrities who have been accused of looking just a bit ‘too black’ in photos.
1. Jennifer Aniston
When Jennifer Aniston recently appeared on the cover of In Style magazine, fans were immediately put off by the heavy tan she sported in one set of pictures.
“Beautiful cover, but why is she ten shades darker than she really is?” one wrote.
Another commenter just wrote, “Brownface.” Jen hasn’t responded to the criticisms from the cover, but the magazine itself told NBC News that the shot was inspired by a model from the 60s who was very tan.
2. Gigi Hadid
When Vogue Italia shared this cover shot of Gigi Hadid, the magazine immediately faced similar criticisms.
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One commenter wrote, “Y’all gotta do better there are some beautiful black women you could have easily reached out to instead of doing this.”
Gigi responded to these claims on her Instagram story.
“Please understand that my control of a shoot 1. is non existent in terms of creative direction. 2. ends completely when I leave set, and anything done to a photo in post is out of my control fully,” she wrote.
“Although I understand what Vogue Italia’s intentions were, it was not executed correctly, and the concerns that have been brought up are valid.”
Gigi wrote, “Regardless, I want to apologize because my intention is never to diminish those concerns or take opportunities away from anyone else, and I hope this can be an example to other magazines and teams in the future.”
3. Kylie Jenner
Kylie Jenner was frequently accused of trying to “look black” for her Instagram audience after she famously got lip injections, started wearing wigs, and started flaunting a definitely curvier figure alongside tan skin.
Some people thought she was taking advantage of black culture.
People used the phrase “Culture Vulture” to describe her, and said she exploited black features to gain success.
Kylie has dialed it back a bit.
She famously removed her lip fillers for a (brief) period earlier this past year, although she’s since found a middle ground.
4. Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande has made a few jokes in the past about people mistakenly believing that she’s Latina or some sort of racially ambiguous mix.
In actuality, Ariana is Italian, and claims her skin tone comes from naturally tanning easily.
This issue really rose to a head with Ariana’s Vogue cover.
Ariana was incredibly tan on her cover of Vogue in August, which lead to some people saying she looks like “an entire black or mixed black woman” in the shot.
Ariana hasn’t publicly addressed this issue.
However, people argue that because she is Italian, it’s not strange for her to get naturally tan. Other people point to her love of using AAVE slang and rap aesthetics as a sign that she’s doing it on purpose.
5. Kim Kardashian
Kim got into a bit of hot water when she debuted her box braid style, which is a popular hairstyle for black women.
She also referred to them as “Bo Derek braids” which a lot of people thought was not cute.
Kim defended herself, saying she knew they weren’t called “Bo Derek braids” and shouldn’t have referred to them as such.
She also said she did the braids in the first place to match her daughter, North, per her request.
6. Kylie Jenner (again)
Kylie saw herself in very familiar hot water after she posted this shot on her Instagram with the original caption, “What I wish I looked like all the time.”
People immediately accused Kylie of blackface.
Kylie amended the caption to read, “This is a black light and neon lights people. Let’s all calm down,” and took to Twitter to further clarify her comments.
7. Sia
When Sia declared herself #TeamScooter in the Scooter Braun vs. Taylor Swift drama, Taylor’s fans were quick to bring up this old picture of Sia evidently in blackface.
Sia claims it definitely wasn’t blackface.
Sia, who notoriously hides her face while performing, shared a video where she had painted herself black to blend in with the backdrop behind her, not to try to look black.
8. Rachel Dolezal
Rachel Dolezal became famous for looking too black — and pretending to actually be black. Dolezal was a prominent activist in the black community before it was discovered she was actually white.
Dolezal claimed to identify as a black woman.
She claimed that by living her life as a black woman, she essentially became one, but unfortunately for her, race doesn’t work that way.
Dolezal no longer holds the official positions she had in black activism before the truth was revealed.
9. Bruno Mars
Writer and activist Seren Sensai accused Bruno Mars of playing up his ambiguity to appear black, saying , “Bruno Mars 100% is a cultural appropriator. He is not black, at all, and he plays up his racial ambiguity to cross genres.”
Bruno never responded to the accusations, but people came to his defense.
Tons of black musicians that Bruno has collaborated with spoke up for Bruno, saying he never claimed to be anything he’s not and that he makes the music he loves with respect.
10. Emma Hallberg
The one who started it all — Instagram influencer Emma Hallberg is considered the person whom the term “blackfishing” was invented for after this ‘before and after’ photoset started making the rounds.
Emma said she never claimed to be anything other than white.
She told Buzzfeed News that she just gets “a deep tan naturally from the sun.” The model has currently almost 300k followers on Instagram and hasn’t tried to lighten her look in response to the controversy.
