34 year old Oscar winner and star of 'the Twelve Years A Slave' Lupita Nyong'o has criticized Grazia magazine after it published a touched-up picture of her hair on its cover image.
In an instagram post, she wrote: "I am disappointed Grazia invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like." She lamented after posting the cover of the fashion bible's latest issue.
Nyong'o also shared the unedited photo in which her curly ponytail is very much visible, and insisted she had not been consulted about any alteration of the image.
'I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture,' she explained.
However, a representative of the magazine has tendered unreserved apology to her for not upholding the highest of editorial standards, adding that they never made any editorial request to the photographer for her hair to be altered on their cover nor did they alter it themselves.
Many of her fans who praised her natural beauty expressed displeasure over the editing of the photo and commended her for speaking out for all black women.
Others said they couldn't understand why the image had been edited when the original was 'beautiful' - although one argued that the 'after' photo looked better.
'I understand and support your point, as I live it every day as a black woman with natural hair,' she said.
'However, the retouched photo accentuates your stunning African features to their full potential. It simply is a better photo. Full stop. Blame the hair stylist. They gave you an unflattering hairdo.'
Nyong'o was born in Mexico and raised in Kenya.
