Kim Kardashian just wants you to buy her new line of beauty products.
She really doesn’t want you to think she has a problem with African-Americans.
But the reality star now finds herself having to defend her position when it comes to race after a couple of controversial promotional photos went viral late last week.
With her Kim Kardashian Beauty line going on sale on June 21, the mother of two posted a couple images of her showing off her very own cosmetics on Twitter a few days ago.
In both the images she shared with fans, Kim’s skin appeared noticeably darker than usual.
Why, many critics wondered, was Kim disrespecting African-Americans by posing in blackface?!?
This term was first used way back in the 19th century when various white theater performers would spread racial stereotypes by painting their faces black.
Clearly aware of the controversy surrounding her new snapshots (which we were taken by Ben Hasset), Kim tells The New York Times that she was simply going for a heavily bronzed look in the scandalous photographs.
She meant no harm.
“I would obviously never want to offend anyone,” says Kardashian, whose children with Kanye West are, of course, biracial.
“I used an amazing photographer and a team of people. I was really tan when we shot the images, and it might be that the contrast was off.
“But I showed the image to many people, to many in the business. No one brought that to our attention. No one mentioned it.”
Naysayers have, of course, accused Kardashian of plenty over the years.
But having an issue with black people is not among the criticisms she’s been subject to. (Just look at her dating history!)
Concluded Kardashian in this interview:
“Of course, I have the utmost respect for why people might feel the way they did. But we made the necessary changes to that photo and the rest of the photos.
“We saw the problem, and we adapted and changed right away. Definitely I have learned from it.”
That’s a pretty strong statement right there.
We’ve had quite a few problems with Kim over the years and we’ve let that be known – but not for a second do we think she meant any disrespect in this case.
Kardashian, meanwhile, has faced criticism of a different kind for this upcoming beauty line.
Some out there believe she’s straight up copying her half-sister Kylie Jenner, which is a point that may have some legitimacy.
Kylie, of course, has seen her business profile rise considerably ever since she came out with Kylie Cosmetics. It’s taken her career in a whole new direction.
With Kim wanting to keep a lower profile ever since her robbery in Paris last fall, it makes sense that she’d want to follow similar suit here.
With a beauty brand, she can mostly remain behind the scenes and simply attach her famous name to a bunch of new products.
There’s certainly room in the makeup world for multiple types of products, so the sad truth is less than Kim is copying Kylie than that Kim and Kylie are both about to rule the beauty world.
We might as well get used to it ahead of time.
