Kim Kardashian responds to 'Blackface' controversy, admits contrast was 'off'

Kim Kardashian West was recently criticized by fans when she launched her own line of cosmetic products, under her new KWW Beauty brand. The 36-year old reality Television Star is facing some additional criticism after launching a slew of new photos to promote her makeup line. The photos, which show Kim in different angles using her own makeup, showcased her in a noticeably darker skin tone.

Overdoing it?

Shortly after Kim's brand launched the new photos, fans were quick to voice out their disgust and disapproval of Kim's heavily edited skin tone. Some fans accused the half-Armenian celebrity of trying too hard to be black, while other accused Kim of trying to look like Beyonce.

According to Page Six, one fan uploaded a side-by-side picture of the original promotional photo and another picture of Kim's real skin tone. This further caused an uproar amongst Kim's fans who disagreed with her changing her original skin tone in what seemed to be an effort to attract her African-American customers.

Explaining herself

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Kim explained that she was apparently just "really tan" when they shot the photos for her ads. According to Kim, the tan was a result of a sun-soaked holiday that she took prior to the photo shoot. She was also using a lot of highlighters and bronzers from her own line of products.

Additionally, the celebrity further admitted that the photos may have had a problem with its contrast adjustments. Kim told the publication that the contrast may have been "off," but no one in her team of photographers and editors pointed it out to her. The photos were shown to different people in the business, but no one ever brought the "dark skin" issue to their attention, which is why it was given the go signal to be promoted.

Quick action

The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star didn't really apologize for the entire "Blackface" issue, but she did mention that she understood why some people may have been upset by it.

After having pulled out the original photos and replacing them with properly edited ones, Kim insists that the problem is now fixed and there shouldn't be any problems moving forward. However, the matter regarding her muscling in on Kylie Jenner's lucrative lipgloss business is still another issue that may not be going away anytime soon. Kim has argued that her business mostly focuses on contouring and highlighting kits, which shouldn't encroach on her sister's lip gloss earnings.