Zendaya, Willow Smith and Kiernan Shipka all grace the cover of W’s April Dream Teens issue. While Zendaya and Smith fans are obviously excited about their favorite stars making the cover, some supporters are calling out the publication for “white-washing” the two young celebs.
More:Zendaya: My experience with double standards and girl-on-girl attacks
Some fans are suggesting that Zendaya and Smith were made to look paler on purpose through Photoshop or lighting so that they appear “less black.” They took to Twitter to voice their concerns about the controversial cover.
https://twitter.com/LavishRebellion/status/707586655096594432
https://twitter.com/younggwhite/status/707580820798574592
https://twitter.com/goawaybrenda/status/707649796224393216
Fans also commented on W‘s Instagram account. See some of their comments below.
“Why did they whitewash Zendaya and Willow tho (sic)…” asked @fairtyinthemeadow.
“@weeyr That’s what I was thinking… even willow looks lighter skinned. Why do they pick beautiful black girls if they’re gonna white wash them (sic)?” asked @sydnxey.
“Can ppl even tell there are two black girls on this cover. They photoshop this horribly (sic),” said @rejeana_w.
More:Zendaya’s Bowie-inspired Grammys look causes big controversy (PHOTO)
No one from W has commented on the controversy yet, but both girls seem pleased with the cover.
Zendaya posted the magazine cover on her Instagram account with the caption, “Young queens.” She also included the hashtag #nextinline.
View this post on Instagram
Smith also posted the cover, as well as additional photos from the magazine spread, on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCvH-alvNnR/
More: Willow Smith’s unique new music video deserves a lot of praise (VIDEO)
In her interview with W, Smith opened up about her early success with “Whip My Hair” when she was only 10 years old.
“I kept telling my parents that I wanted to sing, and they said, ‘OK, we can get some writers and producers here if you want this to be real.’ So they got all those people in a room, and I was talking, talking, talking about the things that I loved, and the writers came up with that song,” Smith told the magazine. “It was a beautiful experience.”
Before you go, check out our slideshow below.
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