Lupita Nyong'o
Actress Lupita Nyong'o says she wasn't consulted before Grazia UK cropped her 'coily hair' for its magazine cover Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Lupita Nyong'o has slammed women's magazine Grazia UK for photoshopping her hair for its cover page. On Friday, 10 November, the actress took it to Instagram to express her disappointment as she claimed that Grazia UK had cropped her "kinky, coily hair"

In a scathing Instagram post, the Star Wars actress blasted the publication for retouching her photos. "As I have made clear so often in the past with every fiber of my being, I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too," she wrote in a lengthy caption and shared a collage of the before and after photo of the cover shoot.

As I have made clear so often in the past with every fiber of my being, I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too. Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfills me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are. I am disappointed that @graziauk invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like. Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture. #dtmh

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The 34-year-old Academy winner expressed her dismay over the fact that the magazine snatched an opportunity from her as she wanted to send the message to children about the true definition of beauty.

"Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfils me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are. I am disappointed that @graziauk invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like," she added.

The actress claims that Grazia did not consult her before cropping her hair in the final output. "Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture."

"Why are they doing this?? What makes the picture with the hair so much better," one of Nyong'o's 4 million Instagram followers wrote reacting to her post. "It's disappointing that this still happens. Thank you for speaking out," added another.

Interestingly, Grazia has released a behind the scene video of the photoshoot where the actress appeared without her curly hair. It remains to be seen whether the magazine will react to the Black Panther actress' outrage.

Altering celebrity's appearance for their cover page is not a new phenomenon as in the past, many have accused publications of airbrushing the original photo in order to make them look more "presentable" for their magazine.

In October, Beyoncé's sister Solange Knowles had slammed the Evening Standard Magazine for cropping her hairdo.