Gigi Hadid Faces Huge Backlash For ‘Disgusting’ New Photo

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American model Gigi Hadid has come under fire after a photograph of her featuring in Vogue Italia has been criticised as an apparent ‘blackface’.

The photograph, on the cover of the May edition of Vogue Italia, shows a heavily bronzed Hadid, who many have claimed looks utterly unrecognisable.

The image taken by controversial photographer Steven Klein shows Gigi being held in the arms of fellow model, Justin Martin.

Originally, the image was posted onto Gigi’s Instagram, however in the midst of the backlash, she has taken it down.

Not only have many slammed the photo for the apparent ‘blackface’, others have claimed it is far too heavily photoshopped.

People have taken Twitter to voice their disgust.

One wrote:

Wow @gigihadid should be ashamed she is making fun of People who are black like she is a disgusting person just like Kim Kardashian and Kim Zolaick. Now Gigi Hadid wow the society of celebrities who think that insulting people of color is just down right disrespectful

Another tweeted:

How can a racist be beautiful inside? She is a disgusting racist and never apologised.

A third wrote:

Gigi hadid has a big history of being racist literally last year she got banned from China and the VSFS because of that racist Snapchat and each time she does something all she says is “teehee it was the magazines fault it was wrong sorry!”

However just as many people have leapt to defend Gigi, many of whom drawing on the fact that her father is Palestinian, while also claiming that in the photo she only appears ‘tanned’.

In the aftermath of the backlash, Gigi posted an apology to her social media platforms, writing:

This is a photo of me returning home from shooting my Italian Vogue cover on April 3… you can see the level I have been bronzed to on set that day.

Please understand that my control of a shoot 1. is non existent in terms of creative direction. 2. ends completely when I leave set, and anything done to a photo in post is out of my control fully.

The bronzing and photoshop is a style that S.Klein has done for many years and I believe was what was expected from the shoot (to show me in a different way creatively).

BUT, although I understand what Vogue Italia’s intentions were, it was not executed correctly, and the concerns that have been brought up are valid.

She concluded:

I want to address this for those who were offended by the editing/retouching/coloring of the cover. Please know things would have been different if my control of the situation was different.

Regardless, I want to apologise because my intention is never to diminish those concerns or take opportunities away from someone else, and I hope this can be an example to other magazines and teams in the future.

There are real issues regarding representation in fashion – it’s our responsibility to acknowledge those issues and communicate through them to work towards a more diverse industry.

The photographer, Steven Klein, came under fire last year after a photo he took of Kim Kardashian provoked a lot of people who noticed that her skin was significantly darker than usual.

This backlash comes only months after Gigi was forced to pull out of a Victoria’s Secret fashion show in Shanghai, China.

Hadid was told not to attend the event after a Snapchat video of herself went viral in which she appeared to mock Asian features.

What do you make of the cover? Inappropriate or are people kicking up a storm over nothing?

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