Kendall Jenner Sparks Controversy After Wearing Afro For Photo Shoot

Kendall Jenner is in hot water again after her latest Vogue photo shoot sparked serious backlash. The 22-year-old model posed for photos that ran in Vogue's November issue, as well as online, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. Jenner's hair was styled in what appears to be an afro, though, and Vogue's Instagram followers were quick to point out that having a white model wear her hair like that is cultural appropriation. 

The hairstyle was paired with a floral Brock Collection dress and faux freckles applied to Jenner's cheeks.  “If y’all wanted a model that didn’t look white y’all could’ve booked a girl of color,” one commenter wrote. "African Americans were forced to straighten their f***ing hair in America in order to get jobs," another follower explained. "If you wore your hair natural it had to be cut short. Hell, the military only allowed dreads two years ago. So GTFOH with 'Blacks straighten their hair'. If we weren’t forced to, I can only hope we wouldn’t! It’s appropriation! Period!"

This isn't the first time Jenner has sparked outrage with her professional choices. Back in April 2017, Jenner appeared in a Pepsi ad where she ends a protest by handing a police officer a can of the soda. The imagery in Pepsi's campaign was similar to a famous photo of protestor Iesha Evans standing calmly in front of state troopers wearing riot gear. Evans was protesting the shooting of two unarmed black men, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, by police.

Jenner responded to the backlash in Vogue, saying, "obviously, my intention was not to hurt anyone," she said at the time. "Honestly, I just hid out. It hurt me that I hurt other people." Jenner added, "I am a huge people pleaser, and that is what my job has always been: You come to set and you do what you're told."

Vogue issued a statement to Page Six addressing the controversy: 

The image is meant to be an update of the romantic Edwardian/Gibson Girl hair which suits the period feel of the Brock Collection, and also the big hair of the ’60s and the early ’70s, that puffed-out, teased-out look of those eras. We apologize if it came across differently than intended, and we certainly did not mean to offend anyone by it.

Jenner has not yet released a statement of her own. 

Photo: Getty


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