By Hilary Weaver(Vanity Fair)
On Thursday night, Lupita Nyong’o tweeted at U.K. magazine Grazia U.K., saying she was disappointed that the publication had “edited out and smoothed” her hair on its cover to “fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like.” She included both the cover of the magazine, in which she appears with hair closely cropped to her head, in addition to what appeared to be original images, in which she has much longer hair, tied in a ponytail. She also posted on Instagram to express her frustration with the edit. On Friday, Grazia apologized.
“Grazia is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages and apologizes unreservedly to Lupita Nyong’o,” the magazine began. The statement went on, saying that the magazine would “like to make it clear” that no one on the staff made a request to the photographer “for Nyong’o’s hair to be altered . . . nor did we alter it ourselves.”
They did not make it clear who edited the photo.
In an Instagram caption, Nyong’o described at length why the issue was about more than just her appearance.
“Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfills me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are,” she wrote. “ . . . Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture.”
It’s a message she’s been sending since the beginning of her screen-acting career; when Nyong’o won her Oscar for best-supporting actress in 2014, she spoke to the power of that moment:
“When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid,” she said.
Source Vanity Fair
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