Azealia Banks Goes on Social to Defend Whitening Her Skin

Azealia Banks is not backing down from her controversial decision to bleach her skin. The rapper landed in the hot seat after sharing a post on Instagram about how much she enjoyed using the skin-lightening cream Whitenicious. The 25-year-old followed that up with a 21-minute long Facebook Live video on July 1 defending her use of the skin-whitening product, even comparing it to wearing a weave.

“What’s the difference between getting a nose job and changing your skin color?” Banks said while on a bike ride along the Hudson River. “What’s the difference between getting a hair weave and changing your skin color? Nobody was upset when I was wearing 30-inch weaves and tearing out my edges and doing all type of s*** like that. You guys loved it. But what’s the difference? I don’t know the difference.”

Her video has received more than a million views and thousands of comments. Some detractors called out Banks for seeming to contradict her previous comments about black culture. “You say this after all the rants and fights you’ve been involved in about race and racism?” asked one Facebook user. Meanwhile, many defended her, even pointing fingers at other celebs they believe have also used the lightening cream but haven’t been criticized for it.

In addition to her video, Banks recently revealed on Instagram that she’s “working on a huge article about skin lightening.” Check out the video to hear her stand up to the haters, and tune in to “The Insider With Yahoo” on TV tonight for the latest in entertainment news.