Make-up artist's Kobe Bryant 'blackface' tribute sparks controversy

A TikTok make-up artist is facing backlash after recreating herself in blackface as the basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

The NBA icon died in a tragic helicopter accident in 2020 and has remained an important figure in the basketball world ever since.

In the video the make-up influencer @easy_baobo, who has recreated herself as other famous faces such as Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth Olsen and Tilda Swinton, wears a Los Angeles Lakers basketball jersey and applies a fake nose and facial hair to mimic Bryant's look.

The video was actually first shared twice back in May 2022 and has 190,000 and 28,000 views respectively. In the second video, she added a caption that read: "Kobe is forever in my heart. Limitation makeup not imitating people just respect."

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Although the video is now 12 months old it has since resurfaced on Twitter where it was shared by the account Daily Loud, where is has received more than 43 million views.

As you can imagine the story has sparked quite a debate as to whether this recreation of Bryan is acceptable or not.

One person on TikTok wrote: "I see the vision but no."

Another added: "No no no. I understand the reason, but no."

A third said: "Why is this still up?"

However, people were more receptive to the idea on Twitter and recognised the talent involved.

One person said: "I feel like this is just a form of art with zero malicious intent."

Another wrote: "I feel like she’s just displaying her makeup art talent. Blackface is really a reach here….”

A third added: "I call it talented make up artist that’s all I see … we need to stop . Good job."

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