When Beyonce’s “Black is King” premiered in South Africa over the weekend, it sparked a conversation with many praising the US singer for spotlighting the African diaspora, but also hyping up African creatives who played pivotal roles in the making of the visual album.
Many local celebrities joined that conversation, giving their take on the production. “Queen Sono” star Pearl Thusi was one such celebrity.
Taking to Twitter, the actress posted a smouldering picture of herself rocking a bikini.
Taking her cue from Beyonce’s famous song, Thusi captioned the post “Brown skin girl... skin just like pearl’s...”
Almost immediately the post went viral with 1.5K retweets and 25.9K likes.
But then tweeps started calling Thusi’s skin colour into question.
“Bee made the effort/point to show celebrities with a darker tone.
“If Pearl Thusi took time to read the lyrics and watch the visuals. She would have much more respect for the message behind the song and choose another caption. Not because she's not " Brown", commented one user.
Bee made the effort/point to show celebrities with a darker tone.
— ✘Cryptic (@ALSkosana) August 4, 2020
If Pearl Thusi took time to read the lyrics and watch the visuals. She would have much more respect for the message behind the song and choose another caption. Not because she's not " Brown"
| Pearl Thusi | pic.twitter.com/2DHfa6T6tM
While some tended to agree, others defended the actress by suggesting her critics go and read the lyrics to the song.
Guys when Beyoncé said brown skin, she literally meant all shades of brown skin. I don’t know why y’all are fighting uPearl. Angazi ngoba ‘Yellow bone’ is a made up term. There’s no such thing.
“Brown Skin Girl” was written by the US singer for 2019 album “The Lion King: The Gift”. Since the release of “Black Is King” Beyonce produced a new music video to accompany it, featuring Kelly Rowland, Naomi Campbell and Lupita Nyong'o.
In a subtle dig to her haters, Thusi posted another message to her socials in response.
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