Another day, another white person dressing in blackface. Once again, the memo must have missed folks in Europe who still think blackface is a cute thing to do. This time, an editor for ELLE France is the culprit in the latest blackface slip-up.
Over the weekend, beauty editor Jeanne Deroo posted a photo of herself in an Afro wig, stylish clothes and such fashioned to look like R&B singer and fashion maven, Solange Knowles. The issue with the outfit was that Deroo, a white woman, painted her skin brown and posted a photo of her getup on Instagram. Instantly, the photo went viral and drew measurable praise from France’s fashion-savvy who even asked if she’d wear her outfit to work.
The push back came as well, and Deroo realized her folly and deleted the photo. According to her apology via Twitter, Deroo was attending a private party titled “Icons” and she chose Beyonce’s younger sister as the star she wanted to portray. From tweets translated from French to English, Deroo seemed sincere in apologizing and regrets the decision.
“I realise how much the fact of painting oneself brown is an offensive act,” said Deroo. “I deeply regret and would like to present all my apologies.”
Deroo wisely added that this was a private affair and had nothing to do with her duties at ELLE France. Don’t want to mess up your money, right, Ms. Deroo?
You can see the full-size image of Jeanne Deroo incorrectly channeling her inner Solange after the jump.
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Photo: Instagram
