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Pearl Thusi Dragged Into Thandiwe Newton’s Colourism Mess

Tweeps think they have the same fake apology energy

By ZAlebs | 04.02.2022 | Pearl Thusi | Drama Last Updated On 05.07.2026

Pearl Thusi Dragged Into Thandiwe Newton’s Colourism Mess
Pearl Thusi catches a lot of heat on social media, usually for things she says or does. Sometimes the backlash makes sense, other times it’s completely undeserved. But nobody could have foreseen her getting dragged because of an international actress’s remarks. 
Thandiwe Newton, a black British actress, recently had a video go viral in which she talks about her experience as a light skinned black British woman in Hollywood. What was meant to be a moment of her showing up raw to speak about her painful personal experiences has turned her into a laughing stock, as people scramble to understand how she could be so tone deaf. 
In the video, Thandiwe talks about living her life feeling guilty about not being able to represent darker skinned black women in Hollywood. She sees it as some sort of failure that those women cannot look up to her. 
Read also: Bonnie Mbuli is not impressed with Pearl Thusi’s ‘blackface’ pictures
But it was her phrasing that made her sentiments all wrong. She apologised to darker skinned women for “taking their jobs, their men and their stories“. She further said that she feels bad that she can’t represent women who look like her mother. 
She has been dragged not just in Mzansi but internationally as well, as many feel like her “apology” was attention seeking and very disingenuous. They think it had the makings of “sorry I’m better than you”, because nobody had ever accused her of taking darker skinned women’s men before. 
Read also: Khanyi Defends Pearl Thusi?
But now Queen Sono has been dragged into the mess, as Thandiwe is getting compared to her. Fans think that they are the same person — those people who keep “fake complaining” about their privilege. They think it’s weird for them to talk about discrimination like it’s a fun little sport, when darker skinned women are facing real discrimination. 
They also think it’s a little bit like rubbing their light skin privilege in dark skinned women’s faces, centering themselves in the colourism conversation, and trying to make it look like they face just as much discrimination as darker women face. 
This is not the first time that Pearl has come under fire for the colourism debate. She was once accused of having “yellowbone psychosis”, which is described as a situation in which lighter skinned people think they are better and smarter than darker skinned ones. Ouch! 
She has in the past decried “light skin hate”, which some of her haters feel isn’t a real thing. But according to Pearl, her experience is just as valid as others’, as she spoke to MacG about burning her skin when she was younger to try to be darker and fit in. 
What do you think? Is light skin privilege/hate a real thing? 
Written by
ZAlebs Team
Editorial Team

The ZAlebs editorial team brings you the latest in South African celebrity news, entertainment, music and lifestyle. We cover the stories Mzansi is talking about with speed, accuracy and a finger firmly on the pulse of local pop culture.

Published on 04.02.2022
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