Halle Berry’s red-carpet look at the Oscars drew both praise and criticism from fashion commenters Sunday night, when she arrived for the awards ceremony sporting a curly, voluminous afro that she told Vogue was meant to “celebrate my natural hair.”
But Sports Illustrated took note of Berry’s look in a way several commenters said was racially charged, comparing her hair to that of NBA free agent Anderson Varejao in a quickly deleted tweet that night. The publication deleted its tweet without explanation, shortly after other social media users said the comparison was an inappropriate comment on Berry’s hairstyle.
A screenshot of the now-deleted tweet, which had no caption, showed a photo of Berry smiling at the awards alongside a picture of Varejao, who is Brazilian, wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey. Varejo played for the Cavaliers until 2016, when he eventually signed with the Golden State Warriors.
New York Times columnist Charles Blow called for its deletion shortly after it was posted, calling it “rude as hell.”
“I’m so over the hair politics,” he added in a subsequent tweet. “No one says a word when a parade of black women wear hair unlike that which naturally grows out of their head.”
This is rude as hell! Whichever intern u have manning ur acct tonight should be fired, this should be deleted and an apology should be made. https://t.co/YDAoY1GLKv
I'm so over the hair politics. No one says a word when a parade of black women wear hair unlike that which naturally grows out of their head https://t.co/hHiCH3mqm8
Others agreed:
@CharlesMBlow Oscar Winner Ms.Halle Berry looking beautiful as always...why is this necessary @SInow ?
@CharlesMBlow This isn't even slightly funny.
Minutes after Blow’s tweets, the SI tweet disappeared, without explanation or reference.
Thanks @SInow for deleting that @halleberry tweet. Carry on...
Sports Illustrated did not respond to a request for comment, and neither Berry nor Varejao, who was waived by the Golden State Warriors earlier this month, appeared to respond via social media. Berry, for her part, expressed pleasure with her sartorial choices in her Vogue interview.
“I have always marched to the beat to my own drum, and I think this red-carpet look encapsulates that,” Berry told the magazine.
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