Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Today Show’ Stylist Apologizes For Ruining Black Woman’s Hair

Beauty Expert Deepica Mutyala
image via Twitter

*After video from a Today Show segment went viral because it showed Beauty Expert Deepica Mutyala transforming a black woman’s cute hairstyle into an unfinished tragedy, the hairstylist issued an apology via Twitter and promised to do better in the future.

NY Mag’s The Cut interviewed the model from that segment, Malyia McNaughton, to get her take on what happened. Below are excerpts from their Q&A.

When you practiced it backstage, did your hair look completely different?
It was essentially supposed to be a curly ponytail that kind of goes high on the head and kind of combines with the bangs. I had never tried the style before, but once she showed me the inspiration photo, I knew my hair could do it.

Was the model black in the inspiration photo?
She was black and she had a similar hair texture to mine.

As the segment was airing live, did you get a sense that your hair wasn’t panning out to what you and Deepica had planned?
Unfortunately once the cameras rolled live, the pressure just kind of hit. I kind of knew halfway through that it wasn’t coming together the way that we initially intended, but I knew that we just had to keep going because at the end of the day it’s live TV.

READ RELATED NEWS: Puff Daddy and the Family Launch ‘Today’ Show Summer Concert Series (Watch)

Are you surprised by the widespread reaction to the segment?
It was definitely all good up until, I guess, people kind of ran with it. I’m surprised by the reaction a little bit.

Has Deepica reached out to you since the clip went viral?
Yeah, absolutely. She reached out the same day because she started getting mean-spirited comments. I felt for her because I knew her intentions were pure and I’m an advocate for everything that has to do with natural hair, black-related inclusion, and so I felt her sentiment and didn’t want it to turn that way. I offered a comment on one of the Today show Facebook posts and people backed down after that. It’s just an unfortunate situation.

You can watch the interview in its entirety here.

 

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING