Jim Carrey posted a tribute to Aretha Franklin on his Twitter account, and almost immediately got backlash over it. You can see the post below, featuring a drawing of Franklin by Carrey.
A few of the comments are included, with much of the focus being on whether Franklin is depicted as white.
“While many users expressed their appreciation for Carrey’s latest art rendering, others were bewildered by the tone of Franklin’s skin,” AOL reports. “The portrait of the Queen of Soul depicts her with lavender hair and a significantly lighter complexion.”
AOL adds: “The replies to the tweet were plentiful, with many commenters expressing their concern over Carrey’s creative choices. ‘Why is she white?’ said some people commenting on the post, though some defended the depiction as showing the singer ‘moving toward the light.’ A few users even went so far as to compare the portrait to ‘American Horror Story’ actress Kathy Bates.”
Here’s Carrey’s post …
It is art, therefore it is open to interpretation. Get over it..
Aretha was the Queen. Who really gives a s##t? She was beautiful, just like this picture. Race-baiting much?
Have you seen Carrey’s other “works of art”? Hi drawings are horrendous. I mean, REALLY lousy. So this one follows suit. I mean, forget the skin tone––this doesn’t even look like Aretha. At all!