These Bollywood celebrities are fair-skinned — and two-faced, critics say.
Indian movie stars are catching heat for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement online even while endorsing skin-lightening facial creams in advertisements.
Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, 37 — the wife of singer Nick Jonas, and among India’s highest-paid entertainers — shared a post on Instagram last week urging people to end the “race war” after the death of George Floyd.
“Wherever you live, whatever your circumstances, NO ONE deserves to die, especially at the hands of another because of their skin color,” she wrote under an image that read, “‘Please, I can’t breathe.”
But observers quickly shot down her comments, calling her “hypocritical” for appearing in a Garnier ad for “fairness” cream, which is used by some people of color to lighten their skin tone.
“Pri was the face of skin lightening creams in India. Pri is part of the problem,” one critic posted on Twitter along with the ad.
In the advertisement, the star is shown posing next to the face lotion, which is described as “ultra-light fairness and dark spots reduction cream.”
Indian actress was also criticized for shunning racism while promoting a skin-lightening cream.
“All colors are beautiful,” she wrote on Twitter — only to be called out for appearing in an ad for a similar product, Pond’s “fairness” cream.
“Irony is celebs advertising for fairness creams are being vocal about #BlackLivesMatter! First bring the change within you then only you can change the world,” one critic, Satyam Shivam, slammed on Twitter.
Indian actor Abhay Deol criticized fellow celebrities saying, “Now that ‘woke’ Indian celebrities and the middle class stand in solidarity with fighting systemic racism in America, perhaps they’d see how it manifests in their own backyard?,” according to the UK Metro.
Other Indian celebs, including actresses Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor, were also slammed for speaking out about the Black Lives Matter movement while promoting skin-lightening creams, the outlet reported.