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Last night, Kerry Washington stepped out to promote her latest film Confirmation in New York City. She wore a black Brandon Maxwell cape dress from the same collection as Lady Gaga's Oscars jumpsuit.
This week has been pretty crazy for Washington, who, while promoting her movie from coast to coast, had to deal with yet another magazine cover that looks nothing like her. This time, it was Adweek. In case you missed it, the Scandal actress wrote on her Instagram, "I have to be honest...I was taken aback by the cover. Look, I'm no stranger to Photoshopping. It happens a lot. In a way, we have become a society of picture adjusters - who doesn't love a filter?!? And I don't always take these adjustments to task but I have had the opportunity to address the impact of my altered image in the past and I think it's a valuable conversation."
It's still a wonder as to how Washington's beauty never seems to be captured properly, from Lucky to InStyle, so when I had the chance to ask the actress her opinion on the difficulties that black women face when it comes to being presented accurately in the media, I took it.
For Washington, the root of the issue stems from the media's approach. "I think we can sometimes get in trouble when we think black women should only be portrayed in one way. I think as long as we’re being portrayed as complicated, three-dimensional fully-realized human beings, then I try not to have judgement about characters in the media, because I try not to have judgement about people in life, too," she says. "And I think everybody’s on a journey, and it’s not about being perfect, or fitting into a specific box of what blackness is looks like or what womanhood looks like. I think we just really want diversity in terms of even how black women are portrayed."
Magazines, please take note. Our hearts can't handle another bad Kerry Washington cover.