Amber Rose is clarifying statements she made on the N.O.R.E.’s Drink Champs show, where she said women in her area of Philadelphia weren’t ‘’traditionally attractive.”
The model and television personality appeared by the podcast last week and really put her foot in her mouth when she claimed, “I don’t know how I could say this without sounding f–ked up, but a lot of the people where I’m from aren’t traditionally attractive people.”
Understandably, Rose caught heat for her comments, but now the model is backtracking.
Rose took to Instagram to clear up everything, telling followers, “I find beauty in everyone. … Unfortunately, it’s not easy doing interviews and always saying things the way you really want to articulate. I wasn’t saying that’s how I felt, I was saying that’s how people treated me.”
Guess it was just a classic case of not being able to find the right words.
Rose added, “It makes me so sad because I never said that. And maybe I shouldn’t have used the word ‘traditional.’ But I just meant society’s standard of beauty because I never felt like I was beautiful. I felt like they were beautiful. So it’s the opposite of what everybody’s saying. Shout out to Philly.”
In her defense, the interview also touches upon Rose’s impoverished childhood, journey into stripping and managing her initial career as an influencer. She also talks about her relationship with Kanye West that propelled her into the fame she never sought.
Despite her intentions, Torrei Hart responded with a video, piecing apart Rose’s identity. “If she’s talking about post-surgery, of course she’s not going to look like anyone in the South Philly area,” she began. “I think Amber has got it a little twisted, too. She let these men gas her up a little bit. She forgot that men are gonna tell you whatever they need to tell you to get into the draws.”
In a perfect world, we could have conversations about beauty, colorism and stereotypes without throwing dirt on one another. But clearly, we’re not there yet.