Lupita Nyong’o Calls Out UK Magazine for Altering Photo to Look More ‘Eurocentric’

Oscar-winning actress says she’s “disappointed that Grazia UK edited out and smoothed [her] hair”

Star Wars Lupita Nyong'o Born a Crime
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Lupita Nyong’o is perfectly happy with her appearance, thank you very much. However, she doesn’t think “Grazia UK” was after seeing the photo the magazine used for its November 2017 issue.

“Disappointed that @GraziaUK edited out & smoothed my hair to fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like. ,” the Oscar-winning actress tweeted on Thursday night.

Nyong’o included pictures from the shoot in her tweet, which did, admittedly, show the Kenyan-Mexican actress with much flatter hair than she sports in other photos.

Nyong’o also took to Instagram with a much lengthier response to the photos.

“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,” the Oscar-winning actress wrote.

“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,” added Nyong’o, who appears in next month’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

“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,” Nyong’o added.

In a statement, Grazia said: “Grazia is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages and apologises unreservedly to Lupita Nyong’o.”

“Grazia magazine would like to make it clear that at no point did they make any editorial request to the photographer for Lupita Nyong’o’s hair to be altered on this week’s cover, nor did we alter it ourselves,” the magazine continued. “But we apologise unreservedly for not upholding the highest of editorial standards in ensuring that that we were aware of all alterations that had been made.”

Look below to see the messages shared by Nyong’o and the magazine about the photos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbTCfXKDjc8/

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