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The ‘London Evening Standard’ Apologizes to Solange Knowles for Touching Her Hair
The London Evening Standard has issued a public apology to Solange Knowles after she had to remind the publication to not touch her hair. The British magazine put the songstress on their latest cover but decided to Photoshop off her braided crown.
“We were delighted to have the chance to interview the wonderful Solange Knowles and photograph her for this week’s edition of ES magazine. It is, therefore, a matter of great regret that the finished cover artwork of the magazine caused concern and offense,” the magazine said in a statement. “The decision to amend the photograph was taken for layout purposes but plainly we made the wrong call and we have offered our unreserved apologies to Solange.”
After the cover was revealed, Solange, 31, quickly called out the magazine on social media, captioning the original photo with “dtmh,” an abbreviation of her song “Don’t Touch My Hair.” The braid, which is noticeably absent from the cover was inspired by the Orion constellation, which holds special meaning for Beyoncé‘s little sister. Watch the video below to see the controversial cover.
To add to the irony of the story, Solange’s interview inside the pages of the publication mentions the value Solange places on black hair, which she also pointed out on Instagram. It is an “act of beauty, an act of convenience and an act of tradition… its own art form,” she said of the braiding experience. “I got to experience women arriving in one state of mind and leaving in a completely transformed way. It wasn’t just about the hair. It was about the sisterhood and the storytelling.”
As expected, her fans called out the magazine for their insensitivity and for deciding to remove the stunning hairstyle from the cover. “Anyway. Am I to understand a mag interviewed Solange about her hair, among other things, and then edited her hair out of the cover photo?” one person tweeted before another added, “She literally made a song on her album called “Don’t Touch My Hair”… don’t mess with Solange.”
One of the authors of the piece, Angelica Jade, also called out the London Evening Standard, writing, “I am publicly disowning the Solange piece London Evening Standard published today. The entire piece was a fiasco despite my efforts.” In the words of Solange, “You know this hair is my s–t / Rolled the rod, I gave it time / But this here is mine.”
