Ariana Grande Blasted for Darker Skin Tone on 'Vogue' Cover

Ariana Grande was announced as Vogue's August cover star on Tuesday, with the singer appearing in the background of her dog Toulouse's very first cover, which accompanied a candid and revealing interview in which the star touched on a variety of subjects.

thanks for allowing me to be in the background of toulouse’s first Vogue cover @voguemagazine
photo by Annie Leibovitz
story by Rob Haskell 🖤 thank u Anna and thank u Sergio https://t.co/YZ6kWlp1el pic.twitter.com/lNRi5TUReq

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) July 9, 2019

The magazine's cover photo sees Grande sitting on a beach wearing a black dress, a large black straw hat, her natural curly hair and her signature spray tan, which some people quickly began calling blackface on social media.

I never knew you could change your race. 🤔🤔

— Mia (@Miaa925) July 9, 2019

Problematic white girl in brownface is problematic

— farmthottie (@ginsengdick) July 10, 2019

I'm not hating but wtf she's brown/black for?? pic.twitter.com/ptE1TJNWlS

— Dania | دانيا (@jouni_dania) July 9, 2019

The tan ... pic.twitter.com/hY9EbP6qtj

— BUY SPIRIT ON ITUNES (@najla33331) July 9, 2019

Several people began posting photos of Grande over the years to demonstrate the changes in her skin's appearance.

........ so we’re going to pretend this isn’t blackface? this is actually creepy almost pic.twitter.com/NlMKnsqKXn

— Kween (@kweenspeaks) July 9, 2019

Many of Grande's fans jumped in to defend her, arguing that though the singer's tan is fake, the result would be the same if she actually spent time in the sun due to her Italian heritage.

I understand the history of “blackface” but black people need to learn that some white people can actually get pretty dark. Like she’s fucking Italian. Do you know how dark Italians get in summer?????? 🇮🇹

— LISHAA (@alishajxxxx) July 10, 2019

I'm sorry but she JUST looks Italian to me. Culture is a thing in other places too lmfao

— Valerie (@lvlyldyvalerie) July 10, 2019

Ari looks TAN and I'm sure she can get that color naturally because Italians can get pretty dark naturally when they tan but too much sun can cause cancer so she's safe and uses tanner What's wrong with that? It aint that deep stfu

— Lil nug 🔥 but Spicy 🔥 and indie 🎶 (@LittlestOfNugs) July 10, 2019

Skin color doesn’t seem that different to me pic.twitter.com/H32LUEnY6E

— Siebe ☁️ (@Ari_AtThe_Disco) July 9, 2019

This is not the first time Grande has been accused of appropriating African American culture, as she has previously been criticized for her tan as well as her speech and her music.

Photo Credit: Getty / Dia Dipasupil