Bollywood actress furious at Elle magazine; says she may take legal action over skin lightening

By Lindsay Goldwert
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, December 29th 2010, 11:47 AM

Raveendran/Getty

Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is reportedly furious with the Indian edition of Elle magazine.

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Don't tell Elle magazine to lighten up.  They're already in trouble for allegedly altering the skin tones of their non-white cover models.

Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is reportedly furious with the Indian edition of the women's magazine for photoshopping her skin to a fairer shade.

The actress and former Miss World is more than just miffed – she told the Times of India that she's stunned that magazines would lighten the skin of a cover model to sell more copies.

"She believed that these things don't happen anymore," a friend of the actress told the Times.  "Not in this day and age when women are recognized for their merit, and not for the color of their skin."

Bachran, known as 'Ash' by millions of loyal fans, may even conside suing.


Elle magazine denies altering the skin color of Gabourey Sidibe for its 25th anniversary issue (Elle; Getty).

"She is currently verifying this skin-whitening allegation," the source said.  "If there is any proof of this, she might even take action."

This isn't the first time Elle has been accused of white-washing cover models.

In September, readers accused the U.S. edition of the magazine of lightening the skin of Oscar-nominated African-American actress Gabourey Sidibe, who had appeared on one of four covers of Elle magazine's 25th anniversary issue.

According to Elle, "nothing out of the ordinary was done" to the cover images.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_bollywood_actress_furious_at_elle_magazine_says_she_may_take_legal_action_over_s.html#ixzz19pZX6ZAh