Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, ladies and gentlemen, knows her beauty and gives no fucks.
The actress is on the cover of Grazia UK's November issue, skin glowing and face stunning, per usual, but there's one major problem...
Nyong'o wore her hair textured in a ponytail for the shoot, not in a sleek and straight cut, as the final cover suggests.
WHERE'S THE PONYTAIL? WHERE'S THE TEXTURE?
She took to Instagram yesterday evening to share the original and photoshopped images with a powerful message, admitting she once thought "light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty." The Black Panther star wrote that landing mag covers is "an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way are."
The caption also read that she could not "condone the omission of what is my native heritage," given the "unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style, and texture." And in the words of Solange, whose hair was also recently photoshopped, Nyong'o signed off with #dtmh.
Fans and supporters gave their online co-sign—including singer/songwriter Neyo and actress Tracee Ellis Ross who both liked the post.
The magazine issued a statement via Instagram early this morning, claiming that they didn't ask the photographer to alter the image, but they apologize for "not upholding the highest of editorial standards in ensuring that we were aware of all alterations that had been made."
You will never know how much you mean to us, Lupita. ❤️ you FOREVERRRR!
UPDATE:
The photographer, An Le, has apologized for the "incredibly monumental mistake" and admits that photoshopping her hair was an "unbelievably damaging and hurtful act," according to The Guardian. In his statement, Le says the edit "was not born out of any hate, but instead out of my own ignorance and insensitivity to the constant slighting of women of colour throughout the different media platforms."