Kim Kardashian Responds to Blackface Accusations

Kim Kardashian-West has addressed blackface accusations, insisting her team acknowledged the problem and has taken steps to fix it.

Kim Kardashian West speaks during the the 2017 Forbes Women's Summit
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Kim Kardashian West speaks during the the 2017 Forbes Women's Summit

Kim Kardashian West speaks during the the 2017 Forbes Women's Summit

Kim Kardashian-West’s Twitter mentions were left in shambles last week after she posted campaign shots for her upcoming cosmetics line, KKW Beauty. One image featured the 36-year-old reality TV star with a what seemed to be a much darker skin tone than her natural color, which immediately sparked accusations of blackface. Nearly a week after the shots went up, Kim addressed the controversy in a New York Times interview:

“I would obviously never want to offend anyone. 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,” Kim said. “But I showed the image to many people, to many in the business. No one brought that to our attention. No one mentioned it.”

Kim acknowledged the outrage people expressed over the photos, and said she and her team have made changes to the campaign shots in light of the controversy.

“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,” she explained. “We saw the problem, and we adapted and changed right away. Definitely I have learned from it.”

This isn’t the first time the Kardashian-Jenner family has faced accusations of cultural appropriation. Just a couple of weeks ago, Kim’s little sister Kylie Jenner was accused of ripping off camo swimsuit designs from a black-owned brand, PluggedNYC.

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