The Internet Can’t Seem to Decide Whether These Are Instances of Blackface
Some are accusing Alexis Stone, a British drag queen, of blackface after she beat her mug to look just like Jeremy Meeks, also known as the “Hot Felon.”
Buzzfeed gave Stone the number one spot on their list of “20 Inspiring Drag Queens You Should Follow If You Love Makeup.” Stone is known for her makeup skills, transforming herself into stars like Madonna, Cher, Charlize Theron and even Leonardo DiCaprio.
BibleGirl brought the issue to our attention after she tweeted, “Y’all’s fave Buzzfeed kween out here really doing blackface huh?” While she didn’t name Alexis Stone, many of BibleGirl’s followers responded that she was talking about Stone.
We went to Stone’s Instagram to find out that she recently transformed herself into Jeremy Meeks, the “Hot Felon” who became famous when his mugshot went viral.
Commenters on Alexis Stone’s posts are arguing whether or not her transformation should be considered blackface. “There is no reason for him to transform himself into a darker skin color to look like a black man, it’s blackface,” one commenter writes.
RELATED | No, Blackface Is Still Not OK, as This White Gay Artist Reminded Us All on Instagram
Another argued, “If you think this is blackface, you don’t know what black face is, stop being an idiot and do some research. It’s sad that an artist can’t do whatever he wants bc SENSITIVE ASS LITTLE BABIES WANT TO MAKE EVERYTHING ABOUT RACE.”
Another said, “Why is it that only the white people are saying this is blackface? Like bro! We can barely defend ourselves let alone a whole nother race! Chill tf out! So far I have seen no POC complain or call this blackface. LEAVE IT ALONE!”
Last week, people were pissed that people were pissed that Riverdale star, Lili Reinhart, said that she found her Halloween inspiration: a demon-monster character painted all black.
Backlash ensued when people, including Perez Hilton, claimed she was promoting something that was quite literally blackface.
Reinhart soon apologized. “I did not mean for my tweet to come off that way. I can see how it was interpreted as being insensitive, completely. I saw the pic on a Halloween Instagram and didn’t think it would be interpreted as being racially insensitive.”
“I apologize. Never meant any harm. I can see how it could’ve been misinterpreted.”
Then, people, many of them POC, reacted to the first round of reactors, noting that the first round reactors equated a photo of a demon to black people. This prompted larger discussions of racism.
You guys accusing Lili Reinhart of blackface because she’s all black as a demon for Halloween is more racist than your accusation
— Tommoween? (@thetommyleon) October 24, 2017
Dressing up as demon = not racist
Comparing a demon to black people = racist
Lol this wasn't racist until y'all made the comparison https://t.co/YeoIUAI3jJ
— go away (@donte5O2) October 24, 2017
Only thing offensive here is that someone thought this was a representation of Black people https://t.co/teupOyQdyy
— Audny (@AudnyHood) October 24, 2017
One thing that we all can agree on for sure is this Trump supporting gay dude def did blackface when he went as a gender-bent version of his favorite X-Man for Halloween. Yup, he picked Storm.
