Netizens Call Out Bollywood Celebrities For Supporting Black Lives Matter While Promoting Fairness Creams
Niharika has a passion for all things art, music, and travel and has over 4 years of experience in writing for social media. During her spare time, she likes experimenting in the kitchen, playing vide... read full bio
Image: Shutterstock
Recently, in many states across America, protests and riots broke out over the murder of George Floyd. The man was of African-American descent and was killed by a white police officer who accused him of being involved in a case of a 20 dollar counterfeit bill. Yes, you read that right. A man was killed over 20 dollars. And why? Well, because his color wasn’t the right shade to help him talk his way out of it. For the first time in the history of the United States, a President had to go into the underground bunker reserved for bomb threats and terrorist attacks during the violent rioting outside the whitehouse. So understandably, the entire world has gone into a state of rage and pure anger towards this topic. Like many of their foreign counterparts, Indian celebrities too have been calling for action. However, unlike their western counterparts, Indian celebrities are well known for endorsing fairness creams. Let’s take a look at why this topic is blowing up and getting people to call out celebrity culture.
Endorse Fairness Creams In India, Promote Black Lives Matter Abroad
As we all know, the fairness cream industry has been dominated by a leading brand for the better half of a century. Many competitor brands have also come into the picture and tried their best to gain a steady footing in the industry. Celebrities have always been the key characters when it comes to endorsing fairness creams. Their wide fan base and “God status” make them the perfect skin whitening ambassadors. So you can imagine our confusion when some of the same celebrities are suddenly all about respecting people regardless of color.
Sure, one might argue that most Indian celebrities are colorists, not racists, but there isn’t much of a difference between the two now, is there? #BlackLivesMatter is trending all over the internet and people are understandably losing their minds over the issue. This has sparked a very important international debate into police brutality and how minority communities around the world are mistreated by the system. Celebrities who were notoriously known for promoting fairness and other skin whitening and lightening solutions have finally decided to speak up and discuss issues that matter. Let’s take a look below:
Disha Patani
The actress, who is known for being the poster girl for lingerie and fitness brands, shared the image with the caption, “All colors are beautiful” and fans were not having it. Many fans on Twitter called the actress out and even shared screen grabs of her acting in skin lightening commercials and questioned her motives.
Priyanka Chopra
The actress shared the heart-wrenching words last spoken by George Floyd before he lost consciousness. In her caption she spoke deeply about how the US is going through a race war and how the only way we can stop it, is if we stand up for our rights and speak up. The actress wrote, “On May 25th, George Floyd was pinned down by the neck by a Minneapolis police officer and died. He laid there, fighting for his life, struggling to breathe, and other officers just stood there and watched. The officer has now been charged with murder.”
She urged her fans to sign a petition regarding justice for George Floyd and send her prayers out to his family. Sadly, for Priyanka, her fans decided they were not having any of it and many took to the post to criticise her for “selectively showing empathy”. Many even mentioned her association with a fairness cream brand and brought up how color didn’t matter to her when she was promoting this. Although Priyanka has spoken about how she regrets participating in fairness cream ads, there’s no denying that the damage is already done.
This isn’t the first time Priyanka has been criticized by her fans for a seemingly insensitive post. The actress had earlier shared an image of herself flaunting a designer COVID mask. The mask was designed by Avoyer Magyan and definitely costs a pretty penny. However, all said and done, we do need to acknowledge that Priyanka has made a lot of efforts to help those who are less fortunate. While she can get embroiled in a lot of controversies, one thing is for certain, Priyanka is definitely making a change in some way.
Some actresses like Kareena Kapoor have spoken out about how they won’t mind doing fairness cream ads as they don’t believe it is harmful for health. Other actresses like Sonam Kapoor have also been called out for endorsing fairness creams while already being fair. And in some cases, actresses like Kangana Ranaut have turned down major paychecks offered by fairness cream brands. There is admittedly a long way to go for most Indian celebrities but the fact that this is sparking up a dialogue is extremely crucial. What do you think about fairness creams? Do let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
