Kim Kardashian slammed for branding black face mask on African American model 'nude': 'It's offensive'
Kim Kardashian took to social media to promote her new line of face masks and said they are available in '5 shades of nude'. However, one of the colors is a bold and solid black which has been described as 'onyx' on her SKIMS website, Toofab reports. Many social media users objected to Kim describing a solid black mask on an African-American model as 'nude'.
While the masks come in different shades, four of them are described as per skin tones — sand, clay, sienna and cocoa. The last one has been described as 'onyx' on her website, which was fine if she had described the masks in shades or colors. Her website showed a white model wearing the 'onyx' mask. On the other hand, on Instagram, she described the masks as coming in '5 colors'. It was her choice of the word 'nude' which landed her in hot water as she used an African-American model to sport the 'onyx' mask on the platform.
When the reality TV star took to Twitter to share the post, she made the mistake of using the word 'nude'. Many social media users were quick to call her out for her use of the word 'nude' and took to commenting on the picture. One such user shared, "The nude shade for the Black model is inaccurate, offensive, and culturally out of touch." A second wrote, "They know what they’re doing with the marketing because there’s a nude closer to the black model’s color on the website. But they used solid black just to get people riled up. Crazy."
"You literally made the black models mask TOTALLY BLACK. You do realize black people aren't the color black like white people aren't paper white? The other skin tones are fine but why couldn’t you make a dark brown color?" shared a third. A fourth user commented saying, "Kimberly. Do better."
Kim had also made headlines when she was accused of cultural appropriation when she called her shapewear brand Kimono last year. The name Kimono, the same word for an ancient Japanese style of dressing, surfaced in June after Kardashian West attempted to trademark it. The 'Keeping Up with The Kardashian' star had taken to social media to share at the time, "Being an entrepreneur and my own boss has been one of the most rewarding challenges I’ve been blessed within my life. What’s made it possible for me after all of these years has been the direct line of communication with my fans and the public. I am always listening, learning, and growing — I so appreciate the passion and varied perspectives that people bring to me."
"When I announced the name of my shapewear line, I did so with the best intentions in mind. My brands and products are built with inclusivity and diversity at their core and after careful thought and consideration, I will be launching my Solutionwear brand under a new name. I will be in touch soon. Thank you for your understanding and support always," she continued.
She then changed the name of her shapewear brand to SKIMS Solutionwear.