Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o says a magazine edited her hair in a cover image, issuing a statement that she’s “disappointed” in the publication.
Nyong’o posed for the November 2017 cover of Grazia UK — however, she spoke out on Thursday against the magazine for using a photo that edited out part of her hair. In a lengthy Instagram post, Nyong’o, who was raised in Kenya, wrote that the decision was made without consulting her and that she would have fought against “the omission of what is my native heritage.”
“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,” Nyong’o 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. 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.”
Grazia UK released an apology, focusing on its “commitment to diversity” and claiming that the edits were made by the photographer without the knowledge of or any requests from the magazine.
