Jennifer Aniston covers the October issue of InStyle.
Considering the actress is 50 years old and still looks the way she does, editors refer to Aniston as the "Babe Eternal" on this cover, a label over which no one has any beef.
Take one glance at another aspect of the cover image, however, and you’ll likely join the many readers who did the same, shook their heads and asked…
… what the actual f-ck?!?
In short, Aniston’s skin has very clearly been darkened for this cover shoot.
She’s nearly unrecognizable.
As you can see below, Aniston is wearing a black DKNY bra in this photo, along with a Lalaounis necklace and Elizabeth Locke, John Hardy and Reinstein Ross bracelets.
But it’s the airbrushing that has received a majority of the attention because, we mean… just look at this:
Wrote InStyle on Instagram, as a caption to this snapshot:
"Jennifer Aniston has been a beacon of American glamour for the past 25 years, and now she’s stretching her boundaries.
"In a series of five newsstand covers (just try to choose a favorite), she channels iconic beauty looks from the ‘60s and ‘70s."
That may all be true, but it hasn’t stopped many folks from around the Internet from wondering: Why does Aniston look African-American?!?
“Beautiful cover, but why is she ten shades darker than she really is,” one person questioned, while another stated simply:
“I don’t remember her being this dark.”
Neither do we.
To be clear, most complaints were directed not at Aniston, who didn’t go blackface or anything here. But instead at the people behind the scenes at InStyle.
"I get that these covers are supposed to be channeling the glamour of yesteryear but that ‘glamour’ routinely marginalized women of color for white women (whether made tan or otherwise)," wrote Instagram user Patricia Birch astutely, adding:
"Seeing Jennifer Aniston several shades darker than normal reminds me of that legacy.
"In 2019, if you want a brown skinned woman on your cover, put a brown-skinned woman on your cover."
For comparison’s sake, here is another recent snapshot of Aniston on this same magazine’s cover:
Aware of the backlash, a publicist for InStyle told NBC News: "This one shot in particular was inspired by Veruschka," a German model who was popular during the 1960s.
The publication then sent NBC News three images of Veruschka appearing heavily tanned, which they said inspired the photo of Aniston in question.
Again, this also may be true.
But we’re pretty sure you can’t blame the average reader for not being aware that Veruschka was the inspiration for a photo of Jennifer Aniston on the cover of InStyle.
Do better, editors.
Jennifer Aniston Finally Fights Back Against All the BS
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