Looks like fashion publication,Elle Magazine won't escape the end of the year without a bit of controversy. For the 14th Anniversery cover of Elle India, Bollywood star, former Miss World and L'Oreal spokesmodel, Aishwarya Rai graces the cover of the issue. However looking a lot lighter than usual. The internet and blogs have been buzzing about the somewhat racist actions of the mag for lightening of the starlet's skin tone and since then Aishwarya has taken notice and she is not happy one bit.The Bollywood star might actually sue the worldwide fashion publication for altering her picture and making her visually lighter than she actually is. But if this legal step actually takes place, this will be the first time an international magazine will be under fire for post-production editing. Aishwarya has not come out with an official statement on the controversy, but a source tells Times of India, “Aishwarya’s first reaction was disbelief. She believed that these things don’t happen anymore. Not in this day and age when women are recognized for their merit, and not for the colour of their skin. She is currently verifying this skin-whitening allegation. If there is any proof of this, she might even take action.”
This is not the first time Elle has dealt with a skin lightening issue. In September, U.SElle was accused of the same thing, but this time with "Precious" actress Gabourey Sidibe. The young actress was on the October 2010 cover of the publication celebrating the magazine’s 25th anniversary, but looked visibly shades lighter than her original skin tone.
About the Sidibe drama, the editor-in-chief at Elle, Robbie Myers said, "We absolutely did not lighten her skin. Retouching is when we take a piece of hair and move it out of her eye, so you can't compare a picture on a press line from what you do in a studio, where your job is to make them look beautiful."
Really now, is this happening again. Come on! Elle really needs to fire their editors or something because this is nonsense that needs to be stopped. This is just poor editing and someone clearly is not doing their job correctly. It might be the creative director of the shoot, the editor-in-chief of the magazine decisions or the actual editor, but who ever has the final say needs to WEAR GLASSES. I have heard of people over-editing pictures before, but this is a little extreme! This actaully grinds my gears!
SMH
Look at some pictures of Aishwarya Rai and let us know what you think. Some people are saying these are pretty racist actions by the worldwide magazine. What do you think?