Kim Kardashian Responds To Blackface Accusations: “I Was Really Tan”

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Published

June 19, 2017

Kim Kardashian West has finally responded to accusations of donning blackface to promote her new beauty line KKW Beauty, telling the New York Times that she was just “really tan” that day.

If you missed the furore last week, Kim posted the first of half a dozen KKW Beauty press shots to Twitter, with a skin tone several shades darker than usual.

#KKWBEAUTY Creme Contour & Highlight Kit 6.21.17 https://t.co/PoBZ3bhjs8 pic.twitter.com/hXLa3XHuVB

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) June 14, 2017

In absolutely no time at all, she was called out on Twitter for appropriating black culture – not for the first time, it’s worth noting. The Kardashian-Jenner clan as a whole have often been called out for just that, in particular Kim and Kylie. This promo pic is by no means a one-off.

you black now sis?

— bonafidehoe (@pettyyonceh) June 14, 2017

You dont have to do blackface pic.twitter.com/MLcJ5Hbg9R

— Wynters (@Sacha_Wynters) June 14, 2017

Y’all wanna be Black so badly.

— ?ecca???? (@MJStarLover) June 14, 2017

The reality TV star finally addressed the criticism almost a week later, in a NYT interview about her new make up line.

“I would obviously never want to offend anyone,” she said. “I used an amazing photographer and a team of people. 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.

“Of course, I have the utmost respect for why people might feel the way they did. But we made the necessary changes to that photo and the rest of the photos. We saw the problem, and we adapted and changed right away. Definitely I have learned from it.”

To her credit – this is Kim Kardashian. If she wanted to shut down any questions about the blackface accusations, it’s completely within her celebrity power. At least she’s heading it face on.

Meanwhile, the photo remains up (and her profile pic), but the ones that followed clearly used a slightly less aggressive contrast.