Kim Kardashian hits back at ‘blackface’ accusations: ‘I was really tan’

The reality star said her team “made necessary changes” to the controversial images
Hitting back: Kim Kardashian has addressed the accusations made against her
Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty
Emma Powell20 June 2017
The Weekender

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Kim Kardashian has shut down ‘blackface’ accusations levelled against her, saying she was “really tan”.

The reality TV star, 36, sparked controversy when she unveiled a handful of promotional images for her upcoming makeup line, KKW Beauty.

The images didn’t sit well with some who accused her of darkening her skin tone and going overboard with the editing.

Kardashian has addressed the fall out, telling fans she never intended to offend, and that despite claiming she was simply tanned, her team later “adapted” the images.

“I would obviously never want to offend anyone,” she told the New York Times. “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.”

She continued: “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.”

Many took aim at the images when Kardashian shared them on her Twitter account, with many comparing the darker picture to the same picture that looked lighter.

One user tweeted: “Ugh she's a horrible person using cultural appropriation and not speaking about real issues.”

Another wrote: “You black now sis?”

Others accused her of attempting to rival her younger sister Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics which she launched a two years ago.

Kim Kardashian - In pictures

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