The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Lisa Rinna is accused of ‘blackfishing’ her appearance in a recent photo of the cast taken at an event.
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For those unfamiliar, Blackfishing is a term created by journalist Wanna Thompson that is typically used when non-Black individuals use makeup to appear darker, or in most cases ethically different or Black. It was coined after the term ‘catfishing.”
As reported by Page Six, Rinna’s RHOBH co-star Erika Jayne, posted a photo with Rinna and they were dolled up in ’70s attire, as was everyone else at the event.
The caption read, “Donna and Jerry ✨,” before Jayne changed it to, “Cher and Jerry ✨”.
Originally, Jayne referred to Rinna as Donna Summer. The caption edit may be due to the backlash the picture receives from followers on Instagram, inferring that Rinna was emulating Summer…even down to the skin tone.
Users call out the blackfishing in the comments:
“If that is Donna Summers [sic]…..Rinna be hitting up the black face!” one user said.
Another wrote, “Is Lisa rinna black now lol.”
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Others defended her, citing a spray tan gone wrong.
Some cited a filter used by Jayne.
“Erika put an orange/dark filter over Rinna,” commented one person. “If you look at Lisa’s stories, she posts a pic of herself without the strange filter and she has her natural skin. Sick of the bad photo shop choices these women make. So unnecessary!!”
Rinna's photo on her own account was different
The picture of herself she posted to her account was captioned, “We call her Cher ✨.” In this picture, her skin appeared lighter. The post has since been deleted, but she has uploaded others from the night.
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This isn't the first family blackfishing scandal
Rinna’s daughter, Amelia Hamlin, was accused of blackfishing last year.
Responding to critique of the photo in which her skin looked extremely dark, she claimed it was because of her Italian heritage.
“im receiving a lot of comments in regards to my latest photo,” she said on Instagram as reported by People. “I am being told that I am ‘black fishing’ – thank you all for educating me on this topic. I recently went on vacation in the sun, and with my Italian heritage I tan very easily. There is no self tanner involved. Or intention of looking darker than my own natural skin color.”
“I had a lot of fun creating this look with no malice intention or offense
