Jennifer Aniston is one of the most beloved actresses in Hollywood, so it might be surprising to learn that she's at the heart of a scandal. This one, though, isn't really her fault — it's the fault of the magazine cover she's on in October.
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Jennifer Aniston Receives Backlash For 'Brownface' On New Magazine Cover
In Style magazine announced that Jennifer will be their cover for their October Issue.
Most of the images they shared seemed pretty, but unremarkable. Definitely not a cause for scandal or uproar, right?
The photoshoot series for the magazine included Jennifer "stretching her boundaries."
The magazine's Instagram page reads that for the cover series, Jennifer "channels iconic beauty looks from the ‘60s and ‘70s."
One version of the cover raised quite a few eyebrows.
On this particular cover, fans accused the magazine of editing Jennifer's skin tone to be "way too dark."
One commenter wrote, "Beautiful cover, but why is she ten shades darker than she really is?" and another simply wrote, "Brownface."
People had a lot of issues with the shot.
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For whatever reason, whether it was because Jennifer tans naturally (she is Greek, after all), or because of the lighting of this particular shot, Jennifer's skin looks noticably darker than in the other covers.
Some fans claimed it didn't look anything like her.
Instagram | @instylemagazine
Especially considering that the other covers don't have the same issue with the presentation of Jennifer's skin tone, some people took fault with whoever edited the shot.
Some people had a more lighthearted approach to the matter.
NBC
Many fans were making references to the episode of Friends where Ross goes to a fake-tan salon and ends up accidentally getting sprayed too dark on only one half of his body.
What do you think? Does Jennifer look off, or are people being too sensitive?
The magazine had an interesting defense.
Speaking to NBC News, the magazine claimed that that particular shot was inspired by a model named Veruschka who was popular during the 1960s.
They said the other cover shots were different because they were based on different models.
"The other four looks were inspired by Catherine Deneuve, Lauren Hutton, Brigitte Bardot and Charlotte Rampling," the magazine told NBC News. They accompanied this information with some interesting photographs.
They sent photos of Veruschka looking tanned.
According to NBC News, InStyle magazine sent them "three images of Veruschka appearing heavily tanned, which they said inspired the photo of Aniston in question."
That left more questions than answers.
As NBC News reports, "InStyle would not comment as to whether Aniston’s skin was darkened, either with makeup or through photoshopping."
Many people have found this whole situation funny.
As this Twitter user joked, Jennifer Aniston should always be remembered as Rachel Green, not Rachel Dolezal.
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