Bollywood Actors Called Out For Supporting Black Lives Matter Movement While Promoting Skin Lightening Products

Authored by ibtimes.com and submitted by objeteh
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KEY POINTS Bollywood stars criticized for supporting Black Lives Matter movement while endorsing fairness creams

"Quantico" star Priyanka Chopra Jonas called out for promoting skin lightening products

Other stars slammed include Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani and Sonam Kapoor

Bollywood actors are called out on the internet for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement while endorsing skin lightening products or fairness creams.

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, who portrayed Alex Parrish in “Quantico,” shared an Instagram post that read, “Please, I can’t breathe.” In the post, she wrote that “race war” must come to an end.

“We all have a responsibility to educate ourselves and end this hate. End this race war here in the US, and around the world,” she wrote in her post.

However, netizens were quick to call her out. Observers on the internet called her hypocritical for endorsing a skin whitening cream by Garnier.

“Pri was the face of skin lightening creams in India. Pri is part of the problem,” a Twitter user commented with an image of the Garnier ad. In the advertisement, the “Quantico” star is posing with the product that says, “Light ultra-fairness plus dark spots reduction.”

In an old interview, Chopra announced that she would never endorse any fairness product, Metro reported.

“I’m dusky myself and I’m very proud to be dusky. I would never go around saying that you need to become fair and that’s the only way you’d be beautiful because I don’t endorse that,” she said in the interview.

Another Bollywood star, Deepika Padukone, who appeared in “XXX: Return of Xander Cage,” was also slammed for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement while promoting fairness products.

A Twitter user named anti pigeon compiled a list of Bollywood stars who are speaking on the movement and their skin whitening cream advertisement. The list includes Disha Patani, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Deepika Padukone, and Sonam Kapoor.

Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Abhay Deol lashed out at the stars for their selective solidarity.

“Now that “woke” indian celebrities and the middle class stands in solidarity with fighting systemic racism in America, perhaps they’d see how it manifests in their own backyard?” he wrote in his post.

The Black Lives Matter protests have erupted across the U.S. following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, a black man who died May 25 when a Minneapolis police officer kept kneeling on his neck even after he pleaded that he could not breathe.

[deleted] on June 8th, 2020 at 15:23 UTC »

In Thailand also, not only due to the racism and skin whitening crap that is everywhere, but celebs are being called hypocrites for jumping on the BLM bandwagon with hashtags and stuff while ignoring home grown issues like critics of the current government/regime being abducted and killed worldwide.

A few days ago another person got taken - https://time.com/5848886/wanchalearm-satsaksit-thai-dissident-abducted/

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/06/05/world/asia/05reuters-cambodia-thailand-disappearance.html

There was a trending hashtag about it, but when the celebs started posting about #blacklivesmatter and got asked why they are silent on these Thai issues, they backtracked and got all fussy, then choosing to delete everything.

anupbabu on June 8th, 2020 at 15:09 UTC »

Sadly this is not limited to Bollywood or Indians

There’s a complex history of skin lighteners in Africa and beyond

"The overall findings show that there is a bias in Jamaica for light skin over dark skin and these values are taught in non-formal and informal ways from very early in life. The practice of skin bleaching is of social and public health concern, and this study has implications for national policy, practice and theory. " Source - PDF

Skin whitening, the prejudice against dark skin and how class in Asia was associated with pale skin long before white colonialism

Colourism in South Asia

Spike Lee made a film about the preference for lighter skin in African Americans

Its a global problem with varying causes and its good that people are starting to raise awareness and push back.

fabrar on June 8th, 2020 at 14:51 UTC »

Not surprising lol. I'm South Asian, and most older South Asian people are racist as fuck and dislike dark-skinned people.