Gigi Hadid apologized Thursday following accusations of “blackface” on her May cover shot for Vogue Italia.
“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 23-year-old Victoria’s Secret model wrote in a post on Twitter, along with a photo of her after the shoot showing her wearing skin bronzer, but not to the same level that appeared in the final shot.
“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 added. “I want to address this for those that were offended by the editing/retouching/coloring of the cover. Please know that things would have been different if my control of the situation was different.”
— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) May 3, 2018
“Regardless, I want to apologize because my intention is never to diminish these concerns or take opportunities away from anyone else and I hope this can be an example to other magazines and teams in the future,” she continued.
The comments come after she posted the shot on her Instagram Wednesday, that has since been deleted, saying how “excited, honored, and grateful” she was for the cover. Almost immediately, her followers began posting about how we she was hardly recognizable in the cover shot and looked very different, accusing her of wearing “blackface.”