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8/9/2008 6:20 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
Pale Comparison

More on the L'Oréal front ... When Beyonce signed on with L'Oréal in 2001 her career was big -- but not huge. As she became more mainstream, her look in the ads appears to evolve -- into a whiter version of her former self.
Beyonce

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Reader Comments

(Page 5 of 17) Previous 15 Comments | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments
61.

Kayan Phoenix:  1284 days ago

to me she looks the same .. its her hair color thats making her skin look lighter .. probably the lighting where they took the pic too ..

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62.

Obama Hussein Barak is the Anti-Christ:  1284 days ago

Haven't been here for awhile so I'm not sure what the other stories on this were, but my simple minded answer ... if they signed her when she was "black" they must have loved her skin color at that time. Beyonce is a beautiful woman and I find it hard to believe that she would want to change her skin color or let anyone attempt to make it appear to change color. She doesn't need L'Oreal and I'm sure that wasn't part of her contract with them.

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63.

rachel:  1284 days ago

This is the dumbest thing!!! They adjusted the color where there is more yellow in the picture. They did it I'm sure to make her hair more golden. It makes it stand out more. Anyone who has photoshop could see that. Stop being so easily offended!!! Stick to a cause that is a big deal. Like true racism.

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64.

Jane:  1284 days ago

So i cannot be black and change the colour of my hair? that's a stupid and racist comment to say! I'm black and i've had my hair in red or blonde everytime i felt the need to change my appearance according to my mood, and for the same reason i put on some wig or extension when i feel like it and that, does not mean that i don't like being black or i want to be white.

By the way, look at some pictures of Beyonce when she was a child, she already had beautiful and long hair (not that long though) and a beautiful light skin unless you say that her parents started bleaching her skin since she was a little child.

To finish i'd just say this, a lot of celebrities have hair problems and one of the best ways to avoid that is to wear wigs and that i do when i want to avoid hair damages and B said herself a few years ago that she did to, she never ever try to make people think that that was her real hair, and franckly for all those who blame her for having those straight hair how many black women do you know don't relax they're hair one way or an other? I surely do cause it is way more easy to deal with them when they are relax than when they are in they're in a natural way!

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65.

Nancy:  1284 days ago

TMZ staff member (Nina) - Did you notice everything about her is more YELLOW than White. Even her eyes are yellow. It is called a yellow filter, and you use them when you are trying to create a certain tone or feel for an image. It has nothing to do with lightening her skin. Certain films and images are shot in a color filter to portray feeling. L'OREL is trying to portray an autumn feel to this image, since the colors are for this upcoming season. It has nothing to do with race so quit making it that way. It just shows your ignorance to photography and willingness to make something into a racial issue when it's not. It shows off more of your insecurities with race than anything. You need to get over yourself and get educated before you run your mouth about something you obviously have no clue about. You are ignorant so you play the victim. Try getting yourself out of this one. You made TMZ look VERY BAD. I have a feeling someone isn't going to have a job at TMZ come Monday morning. If you were my employee and caused this kind of issue at my company, I'd show you to the door.

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66.

janet:  1284 days ago

black people say we white's want to look black so we tan white people know blacks want to be like other races cuz they straighten their hair.

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67.

Jackson:  1284 days ago

This isn't about race, it's about the beauty industry. Her skin was retinted to match the hair color-- which I imagine was made more vibrant for the purposes of the product. Imagine her hair in the far right add with her skin from the far left-- it'd look terrible.

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68.

BigMistake:  1284 days ago

Beyonce is not saying anything because like me she realizes how stupid all of this is. If that picture is altered to make the box look prettier so be it. Anyone other than TMZ can tell it has nothing to do with her skin color, it's just a yellow look they are going for. I wish they would stop trying over-sensitize the public to go after people. Would they rather that company not hire any black people then they don't have to falsely be accused of things they aren't doing?!

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69.

Nicole:  1284 days ago

It doesn't look like they made her lighter over the years. Actually, pic 1 and 3 look the same. 2 just looks brighter and the last one that you say is "white washed" just looks like lighting. As a mixed woman myself, I can attest that depending on the lighting, I can look lighter or darker than I really am in person. It's not a conspiracy to make her look "white". I like you, Nina, but please let it go!

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70.

abby:  1284 days ago

why does it look like you guys darkened the darker pictures? seriously stop it already.

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71.

Jacque:  1284 days ago

Alright, this is honestly becoming a bit ridiculous.

Looking at this display of photos (which all pretty much look the same (skin and tone can look different depending on cmaera used, exposure, and lighting) with the exception of the last one) This last picture appears to have had bright lighting used and the overall hue adjusted, note that I said overall, not just the hue of the skin. Her eyes are more yellow in color, as is everything else. The saturation was also probably upped a bit to make the hair pop. It isn't racism or an underhanded attempt to degrade black people, it is a reasonably bad photo adjustment job. You need to drop this because not only is it childish, but you are perpetuating the stereotype of black people whining and complaining about every little thing. You have to realize that people will have very little respect for any individual that 'cries wolf' at every turn.

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72.

Jenn:  1284 days ago

Like most everyone else said, its the weird yellow/orange lighting that's awful.

However, when you have these pictures side-by-side like this, her NOSE JOB becomes clearly evident.

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73.

anonoymous:  1284 days ago

Wow, apparently all of you who say it's just the lighting, have no idea what they're talking and have bought into L'OREAL's ridiculous excuse...As the coporate world says, "Black doesn't sell" So they "fixed" her up a bit, if you want to call it "airbrushing" go right ahead you can tell that they fixed her nose as well. Now does the lighting change the shape of your nose as well?

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74.

jnetteb:  1284 days ago

To all of you posters who want TMZ to stop playing the race card and focus on more important issues, race IS an important issue and this is an ENTERTAINMENT site people, not Time or CNN. They deal with CELEBRITY ISSUES and this is one of them. I read about this story before it was even on TMZ so you can stop bashing Nina (whoever that is) for "creating" controversy. Because you are obviously IGNORANT of the racist slights that people of color undergo you shouldn't be so cavalier and tell people to "get over it" and that race issues are "passe".

I do feel that there are some women whose aim is to achieve a more European standard of beauty (Lil Kim, who fails miserably) but there are some women who change their hair color simply because they want to experiment with different looks.

I am sure that Beyonce approved the photos before the ads appeared and didn't realize that they would cause such an uproar. I am not sure if this was a deliberate act on L'Oreal's part to whiten Beyonce, it could have been the lighting that was used, maybe the lighter hair called for different lighting, who knows? I am more concerned with the comments posted about the article rather than TMZ reporting on the story. It further illustrates peoples arrogant and dismissive attitudes on the issue of race.

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75.

who cares....:  1284 days ago

There are millions of other things that you could devote your time to.... how about global warming, people starving, going to church.... something! Instead of saying it is a big deal because the lightend her skin a tad (she isn't dark skinned to begin w/ by the way). Why can you concentrate on MORE IMPORTANT things going on it the world. AND REMEMBER IT ISN'T ALWAYS A RACIAL THING! GET OVER IT AND FIND SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE....

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