A model infuriated a segment of her large Instagram fanbase when they came across an older photo of her. When critics claimed the photos proved she was a horrible person, the distressed model said, “Let me explain.”
Emma Hallberg came under fire after black women who followed her on Instagram admitted that they assumed the Swedish model was either black or mixed race. The controversy quickly spread and drew the attention of various media outlets. However, not all was as it seemed.
It all started in 2018 when two images of Hallberg were circulated online. The first image shows her with considerably lighter skin and absolutely straight hair, but the second image shows her with darker skin and curly hair. “I honestly thought Emma Hallberg was half black,” one user commented on the photographs. “I thought she was mixed my girl is fully SWEDISH,” another fan commented.
Another angry woman alleged that Hallberg was a big phony, saying, “This Swedish White girl is guilty of ‘blackfishing,’ a term used to describe someone who masquerades as a Blk person to deceive others. By extreme tanning, dark makeup & braids, this fraud is exposed!” Yet another woman claimed, “The girl was clearly posing as black, as she’s posted by many black pages etc.”
According to Buzzfeed, many people were accusing Hallberg of failing to correct accounts that had applauded and identified her as a black woman after resharing her photos. Hallberg also stated to the media outlet that she is “white.” As old images of Hallberg went viral, the influencer was forced to define her ethnicity.
When a fan messaged Hallberg, she addressed the situation immediately. “Yes I’m white and I’ve never claimed to be anything else. And by no way, there are no ‘before’ pictures, the pictures that has been spread are just two different pictures taken on two different seasons of the year.”
The social media star shared a series of posts on Instagram to explain her side of the story. “You’ve probably seen these two pictures beside each other all over Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, where they are called the ‘before & after,’” Hallberg wrote. “The left picture was taken 2 years ago right before summer with barely any makeup and my hair straightened.”
“The right picture was taken in July right after I came home from a vacation, with makeup,” Hallberg continued. “I’ve been accused of doing frequent spray tans, taking melatonin, getting hair perms and lip injections, and many more. When I haven’t done anything of the above.”
Hallberg then uploaded a series of images of herself and said that her darker skin tone was because of excessive sun exposure. “This is how the sun tans my skin naturally during the summer,” Hallberg explained. To further back her claim, the influencer also shared a photo of her brother and father, which shows them with deep skin tones as well. “As you can see they also tan very easily,” Hallberg wrote.
“In my YouTube video, I use a darker foundation than my face only to match it to the rest of my body. Why my face is less tanned than my body is because I have some acne and scar issues so I use a lot of face scrubs, toners, and peeling products.” Hallberg explained. “I do not get my sponsorships, work opportunities, and collaborations because of the color of my skin. I get it because of the way I style my clothes and create makeup looks.”
Emma Hallberg said that her hair texture runs in her family. She shared a photo of her mother, who also has naturally dark curly hair. Hallberg also shared photos of herself as a child with the same curly hair. She later explained that she uses darker makeup for her face to match the rest of her naturally darker body. However, none of that seemed to matter to her critics, who still continue to attack her. We are often told that we can’t assume gender by appearance, but perhaps the same thinking should be applied to race.
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