Kim Kardashian West looked very different in her latest photoshoot for 7Hollywood magazine – way too different, online critics have said.
The 39-year-old beauty mogul put on a wig and glitzy dress to replicate the signature look of Elizabeth Taylor, an icon of classical Hollywood.
But people flocked to Twitter and Kim’s Instagram to complain of her bronzed skin in one specific photo, which they said was too dark for a Caucasian woman and bordered on blackface. She does indeed resemble Diane Ross more than Elizabeth Taylor in that one.
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To put some perspective, this is what Kim looked like when she transformed into Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods for Halloween.
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In other images from the 7Hollywood shoot, Kim appears to have a skin tone more similar to her natural one.
Some people accused her of cultural appropriation and blackfishing – a recently-coined term used to describe someone who masquerades as a black or mixed-race person online.
Her husband, rapper Kanye West, has received his own share of venom on Twitter for vocally supporting Trump in the past. Together, they have four children, aged 7 months to six years.
The thing with Kim Kardashian and her family’s tireless history of cultural appropriation and Blackfishing is that she knows better. They know better. But they continue to do this because they know outrage sells. They’re able to keep their name relevant by doing things like THIS. https://t.co/rIE1fuYUXH
— Wanna (@WannasWorld) December 19, 2019
Y'all really finna let Kim Kardashian cosplay as a black woman for the rest of her life and not say nothing huh? pic.twitter.com/Ex3N3L6MzT
— Black Ginger Foutley (@some_girlll) December 19, 2019
Kim kardashian looks darker than Beyonce. All I know is she black fishing let's call out #kimyouarenotblack #kimmustfall pic.twitter.com/02NhV7u9IH
— Bongani (@Bonganipempeni) December 19, 2019
Wearing blackface*
— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) December 19, 2019
She doesn’t. That’s the thing. She just wants to take advantage of our features and culture. I’m so fuming right now
— Manute (@manuteasso) December 19, 2019
A source close to the reality star told Page Six that she didn’t mean to pass as black for whatever reason.
“It’s the lighting that makes her look darker in this specific image,” said the source, who allegedly was on set. “There are multiple covers and images from this shoot where the lighting looks more natural. “People are so quick to find the negative in everything and also often forget that she is of Armenian descent.”
Kim Kardashian’s mother, TV personality Chris Jenner, is of a mixed European heritage. Her father, Robert George Kardashian, who was the defence attorney in O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, is an Armenian-American.
Kim has faced allegations of wearing blackface throughout her career. For instance, in 2017 she met backlash over a promo photo for her KKW Beauty contour kits, which showed her skin significantly darker than usual.
She responded to the allegations: “I was really tan when we shot the images, and it might be that the contrast was off. But I showed the image to many people, to many in the business. No one brought that to our attention. No one mentioned it.”
