Kim Kardashian is facing accusations that she put on “blackface” for a magazine photo shoot.
The 7Hollywood magazine photos she shared Thursday were reportedly inspired by Elizabeth Taylor, but many Twitters users said the reality star looked more like a black woman.
Some accused her of cultural appropriation and others dismissed the controversial shoot as a publicity ploy.
A Kardashian rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An unnamed “source close to Kardashian” told the New York Post that the criticism wasn’t merited.
“It’s the lighting that makes her look darker in this specific image,” the source said to Page Six. “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,” the source added.
Cosmopolitan noted, however, that Kardashian looked far more pale in a Halloween recreation of Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods character from “Legally Blonde.”
In 2017, Kardashian also faced accusations of wearing blackface after she released a promotional image of herself that looked darker than usual, but she told The New York Times she was merely very tan.
This time, critics on social media again said she crossed the line.
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