Elle India Lightens Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Skin

Former Miss World and Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is on January’s Elle India cover.  But Aishwarya is outraged at the magazine and considering suing for how much they lightened her skin.

StyleList has the story and a photo comparison of the actress at a red carpet event vs. on the cover.

This is the second time an Elle magazine has come under fire for lightening a cover’s skin tone.  The American version did the same thing to a Precious actress a few months ago.

This kind of racist, hurtful retouching contrasts sharply with some of the other magazines Elle competes with.  Feministing highlighted a story last April where Vogue India directly addressed the color prejudice and declared that they loved natural Indian skin tones.

I’ve never looked fondly on the world of fashion and beauty magazines, but if I ever buy one in the future, I’m steering clear of Elle.