Lupita Nyong’o Calls Out Magazine for Photoshopping Her Hair

Lupita Nyong’o has called out a magazine for photoshopping her hair. Lupita says that Grazia U.K. smoother out her hair to “fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like.”

Lupita shared what appeared to be both untouched images and the shot that made the cover of the magazine. Her hair looks quite different and she expressed her issue with how it was changed. She said that she was not asked or consulted about the photoshopping and that she would not have agreed to it since she wouldn’t do anything to “support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage.”

As I have made clear so often in the past with every fiber of my being, I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too. 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. I am disappointed that @graziauk invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like. 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. #dtmh

A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on Nov 9, 2017 at 6:11pm PST

Grazia quickly apologized and explained that the edit was not their intention, but they did not mention who actually made the edit. The photo was taken by the popular An Le Studio which has been approached for comment about the issue. They have not yet responded.

https://twitter.com/GraziaUK/status/928972561899245568/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanityfair.com%2Fstyle%2F2017%2F11%2Flupita-nyongo-accuses-grazia-magazine-of-photoshopping-hair