Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas lived up to his social media name no.chill.gil on Friday by having absolutely no chill when it came to expressing his thoughts on black women’s skin tones. It included his opinion that Lupita Nyong’o, an Oscar-winning actress named People magazine’s most beautiful person of 2014, isn’t “cute.”
It started when the 35-year-old left a comment under an Instagram photo implying that he didn’t think dark-skinned black women were beautiful.
The photo was a meme telling black girls that they don’t have to be mixed with any other ethnicity to be considered beautiful. But Arenas didn’t seem to agree.
“Not to be funny can u name a beautiful black women on the outside…not brown skin…like tyrese black,” Arenas wrote. “Top 50 most beautiful women of all time…the darkest women they have is (Keshia knight Pullman aka Rudy)(gab union)(taral hicks)(Serena Williams).”
He continued: “When you say African features black then u have #1(lupita n’yonga) and she’s cute when the lights are off second is (Ajuma nasenyana) sorry but ewww so the beautiful black women u try to boost up is technically light skinned or brown skinned.”
Arenas didn’t get much support on his comments. One referenced “the Sunken Place,” a position of hopelessness portrayed in the Jordan Peele film “Get Out.”
“People taking about Trump Supporters, a lot of black people are in a SUNKEN PLACE for real! SMDH,” the commenter wrote.
Some people even felt sorry for Arenas’ kids and hoped that they didn’t stumble upon their father’s message.
“I feel sorry for his beautiful chocolate daughters if they were to ever read the foolishness he’s posting. Smh. People really need to think before they post bs,” wrote one follower.
Apparently, the immense backlash made Arenas think twice. He posted something of an apology, saying he misunderstood the post, but that he’s not really sorry for what he said.
“I never say sorry for the s— I say but it’s my fault I read this wrong and got into my feelings,” Arenas said in his message. “I thought it was saying,if ur mixed ur not considered black and beautiful and my kids are mixed and dark skinned so I perceived it how I wanted to.”
“I erased to kinda say sorry but not say sorry becuz u can’t truly blame me for reading it wrong,” he added. “And as for lupita she ain’t cute to me sorry…just like I’m not cute to 95% of u.”