Lupita Nyong’o called out Grazia U.K. after the magazine edited her hair out of its cover.
The Oscar-winning actress, 34, took to social media to share the cover alongside original proofs, which show her hair pulled back into a ponytail.
“As I have made clear so often in the past with every fiber of my being, I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too,” the Kenya-raised star wrote alongside the images. “Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfills me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are.”
The “Force Awakens” star panned the magazine for having “smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like. Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women’s complexion, hair style and texture.”
Grazia U.K. released a statement on Twitter in response to Nyongo’s comments, apologizing yet not actually taking responsibility for any editing.
“Grazia is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages and apologizes unreservedly to Lupita Nyong’o,” the statement began. “Grazia magazine would like to make it clear that at no point did they make any editorial request to the photographer for Lupita Nyong’o’s hair to be altered on this week’s cover, nor did we alter it ourselves. But we apologize unreservedly for not upholding the highest of editorial standards in ensuring that we were aware of all alterations that had been made.”