Beyonce : White Woman ?

before and after

In August 2008, cosmetics giant L’Oreal was accused of ‘whitewashing’ the star in an advert by digitally lightening her skin.

And last February, a very blonde Beyonce stepped out, wearing a black minidress which revealed unusually pale skin on the star. 

At the time writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown accused the singer of 'betraying all Black and Asian women.' 

She wrote in The Daily Mail: 'Too many black and Asian children grow up understanding the sad truth that to have dark skin is to be somehow inferior. 

'Of course, black and Asian parents work hard to give their children a positive self-image and confidence in their appearance, despite the cultural forces stacked against them.

'But when black celebrities appear to deny their heritage by trying to make themselves look white, I despair for the youngsters who see those images.' 

At the time, the cosmetics house denied that the pictures had been altered in such a way but The New York Post newspaper called the advert ‘shocking’ and accused it of making the singer look like a ‘weird, nearly white version of herself’.

She has not commented on the photos.

Beyoncé was born and raised in Texas by her African father and mixed-race mother. The singer gave birth to her first child, daughter Blue Ivy Carter, last Saturday in New York.

before and after