Gigi Hadid apologises for Vogue Italia 'blackface': "It was not executed correctly"

Gigi Hadid has graced many a Vogue cover in her time – from the British edition, to her home country’s version in the US, Arabia, Japan, Germany, Spain, Australia and more – and most have been met with fanfare.

However, her latest cover, for the June issue of Vogue Italia has left her fans accusing her of doing blackface.

The cover sees Gigi sporting dark hair and skin than usual, for the magazine’s ‘High Voltage’ issue, shot by photographer Steven Klein. In the shots, she sits on male model Justin Martin’s lap.

Fans were quick to comment on both the offensive manner of the shoot – as well as the dodgy editing.

The cover also drew critique for Gigi and her costar’s colouring: thanks to makeup artist Fulvia Farolfi, the duo appear to be wearing an extra dark tone of fake tan, and fans haven’t failed to notice.

Somewhat more seriously, many have accused Gigi and Vogue Italia of ‘blackface’.

Well now, Gigi Hadid has issued an apology on her social accounts, along with a photo of herself which was supposedly taken just after her cover shoot on April 3rd.

Beside it, she says: “This is a photo of me returning home from my Vogue shooting on 3 April… you can see the level I have been bronzed to on set that day.”

She explained that she has no control over creative direction and that anything done in post-production’ is “out of [her] control fully”.

She added: “Please know that things would’ve been different if my control of the situation was different.

“Regardless, I want to apologise because my intention is never to diminish those concerns or take opportunities away from anyone else.”

It’s not the first time Gigi has be accused of cultural appropriation, posing for Vogue Italia in 2017 wearing an afro-style wig.

Other celebrities to have been accused of cultural appropriation include Kendall and Kylie Jenner, who released a ‘Chinese takeout’ bag as part of their Kendall + Kylie collection, and Beyonce who recently released merchandise which features images of herself dressed as Queen Nefertiti of ancient Egypt.

What do you make of Gigi’s Vogue cover?

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