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Home • News

Azealia Banks Responds To Skin Bleaching Comment

Azealia Banks is known for her reckless social media antics, but this time, she was well within her right to speak up!
Azealia Banks Responds To Skin Bleaching Comment
@azealiabanks via Instagram
By Sydney Scott · Updated October 27, 2020
Controversial rapper Azealia Banks is currently catching a lot of heat for bleaching her skin. A while ago, Banks posted a photo of Whitenicious, a skin lightening cream, exclaiming, “The truth in a pink box. I LOVE this product @whitenicious !!” Most recently, after posting a photo following a show in São Paulo, commenters noticed the rapper’s lighter tone with one fan asking how she could still be pro-black while lightening her skin, Banks responded, “Because my p—y still purple.”   Twitter Briefly Suspends Azealia Banks, Everyone Celebrates Banks has stated in the past that as a dark-skinned woman she feels that it’s much more difficult for her to get ahead and, regardless of how you feel about the rapper, Banks is spot on about the role beauty standards play in the entertainment industry. There’s a deeper conversation to be had about skin bleaching, society’s harmful beauty standards, and colorism. And, while fans are quick to criticize Banks for using a skin lightening cream, blaming the victim won’t get to the root of the problem. WANT MORE FROM ESSENCE? Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.