Hailey Bieber accused of "blackface" after showing off her dark tan
29 April 2019, 17:28
"How come a Caucasian has a tan that makes her skin darker than mine? Miss @haileybieber blackface isn't cute."
Hailey Bieber has divided the internet after posting a photo of herself with a dark tan on her Instagram Story that some have accused of being "blackface".
The model is currently on holiday with her husband Justin Bieber in the Bahamas, the same place he popped the question back in July 2018.
And after a hectic weekend with Kendall Jenner and Biebs at Coachella, Hailey decided to take full advantage of some rest and relaxation, and headed to the Caribbean to soak up some rays.
Hailey shared some photos of her bronzed skin on Instagram, but some people are offended by how dark she is. In the photo, Hailey is lying on a beach towel wearing a blue bikini with her bronzed legs on show. She captioned it: "soaking up the sun."
Now if y'all remember Ariana Grande has caught some heat over her excessive tanning in the past. Whilst people of various complexions can obviously get a deep tan naturally, it's tanning excessively that can be considered "blackfishing" and therefore problematic.
The term was coined on social media after a number of white women were accused of cherry picking ideal features from black women to appear more racially ambiguous or "exotic".
People were convinced that there was no way Hailey's tan was natural and accused her of blackface.
Y’all want the color without the daily treatment and it shows
— ゚✧* annie・゚✧* (@dalyleshx) April 27, 2019
y’all dragged ariana to hell and back for an overexposed pic of her to make her look overly tan but aren’t giving miss hailey bieber the same energy? girl i’m out..
— 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚 (@gwsgrxnde) April 27, 2019
What in the Ariana grande is going on here????
— satansdirtysemen_ (@litlemonsterja) April 27, 2019
hailey bieber does blackface end of story. my skin colour is not smth a white lady should be using as a “tan”
— oyinka | missing aneha temi sari hrs (@FLIGHTOFJEON) April 28, 2019
How come a Caucasian has a tan that makes her skin darker than mine?
— Halle🦋🌼 8.06 BTS au SDF (@Halle_Baerry) April 28, 2019
Miss @haileybieber blackface isn't cute.🤥 https://t.co/yoCvxvWJJi
Justin when he walks in his home to find Hailey Bieber over sun-kissed after her tan pic.twitter.com/OGOpaPMzjE
— CantRelate🎂 (@RelateICannot) April 27, 2019
So u telling me a girl @haileybieber that light can have that dark tan after just a week in the beach while there's me who is darker than her and spend all summer in beach but still I don't get that tan girl that's definitely not sun soaking #haileybieber #JustinBieber pic.twitter.com/rZYmXpwG6Y
— namjoon_wife (@nouhakaya1) April 27, 2019
Nonetheless, others have defended Hailey, insisting she can't help if she tans easily and her mother Kennya Baldwin is Brazilian, which may be why she is more olive in complexion.
I posted this because people have been accusing her of blackface for the photo she posted on her Instagram stories, when in fact... that’s her NATURAL tan. She shouldn’t be dragged for spending a few hours in the sun enjoying her vacations. pic.twitter.com/5wyyWUyKPZ
— best of hailey bieber (@postshailey) April 28, 2019
Imagine getting offended over Hailey Bieber getting a natural tan I cba with the world
— sam (@s_httn) April 29, 2019
this is a closeup if her skin. to me it doesn’t look like beautiful black skin like people are claiming she’s trying to get, it looks like tan white skin. pic.twitter.com/Xrx6xGuqw2
— 𝚊𝚕 (@piscesqueenz) April 28, 2019
people need to leave hailey TF ALONE!!! like she doesn’t deserve ANY of the hate she’s getting:(( like come on, hating on someone for getting tan?? that’s ABSURD!!! @haileybieber i’m sorry people are giving you such a hard time😥 pic.twitter.com/YBB0hTvL02
— liv♡ (@brutallybieber) April 29, 2019
In response, Hailey posted a photo on her Instagram Story addressing the whole thing.
In the selfie, Hailey is in bed smiling, and she wrote alongside it: "So today the internet is mad at me for getting too tan!!! shoot!!!
"I'll do my best not to get so much sun next time I'm on vacation!"