Kylie Jenner, who appears on the March 11 cover of “Vanity Fair,” has received social media backlash over her appearance.

Kylie Jenner called out for darkened skin on *Vanity Fair *cover

Kylie Jenner, who appears on the March 11 cover of "Vanity Fair," has received social media backlash over her appearance.

By Sharareh Drury

March 11, 2026 2:05 p.m. ET

Kylie Jenner on Jan. 29, 2026 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Credit:

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Kylie Jenner is being called out for having noticeably darker skin in her new *Vanity Fair *cover.

The Kylie Cosmetics founder is seen smoking a cigarette while wearing khaki pants and a black bra in the cover photo for the magazine. Several comments on *Vanity Fair*'s Instagram have criticized the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner family for her appearance, including one user writing, "Why the ethnicity change?"

Another user called out Jenner's darker shade, writing, "doesn't look like her at all," with another asking, "Is this really Kylie Jenner? I really thought at first that the wrong image was used. Wow. Okay then. Why is she cosplaying an Indian woman?"

Some went as far as calling the star out for trying to appear Black, with one user writing, "Who is this Black woman? And where is Kylie?"**

Kylie Jenner at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards.

Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty

On Jenner's own Instagram account, where she also shared the *Vanity Fair *cover, comments about the cover read more positively, with mom Kris Jenner writing, "STUNNING," and model Gigi Hadid also commenting, "Soo beautiful ky."

Still, some users criticized Jenner's appearance on her account, with one writing, "Why is she so dark?" and another user commenting, "Blackfishing."

*Vanity Fair *also received backlash in the comments over the magazine promoting a piece on Jenner just a day after it published a story defending her boyfriend Timothée Chalamet's controversial comments on ballet and opera. In the piece, titled "Timothée Chalamet Is Right About Ballet and Opera," staff writer Chris Murphy wrote, "Were Chalamet’s comments graceless? Sure. Inelegant? Yes. Even a bit rude and dismissive? Well, yeah. But was anything Chalamet said *incorrect*? Not in the slightest."

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Both Jenner and several of her siblings have been called out in the past for cultural appropriation and blackfishing, a term coined by journalist Wanna Thompson for when primarily white people use makeup, hairstyling, or photo editing to alter their appearance to look Black, mixed-race, or racially ambiguous.

In 2015, Jenner posted a photo of herself with a dark metallic skin tone, blue contacts, and pink hair, writing, "What I wish I looked like all the time." Following criticism over her appearance, Jenner posted another photo of the look, writing, "This is a black light and neon lights people lets all calm down."

Jenner received backlash again in 2020 after posting photos on social media of her wearing a Tom Ford hooded neon green gown along with the caption, "Giving you baby mama drama honey." One user wrote of Jenner's appearance, "You are a white woman. Stop cosplaying Black & brown women, they are not your costume."

Sister Kim Kardashian was slammed in 2018 for donning Fulani braids, which the actress and reality star called "Bo Derek braids" — a reference to white actress Bo Derek wearing cornrow braids in the 1979 film *10*. A year prior, Kim faced blackface accusations during the 2017 KKW Beauty campaign.

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Source: “EW Celebrity”