australian model pays “tribute” to serena williams in blackface. smh

It seems we’re not going to see the end of ignorant white people dressing up in Blackface for fun anytime soon. Like clockwork, some fool claims the act is innocent—or worse, a celebration—people respond in anger, the culprit gives a silly non-apology without ever really exploring the racism behind wanting to do it in the first place, and we’re back at square one.

The latest example is Australian model Sophie Applegarth, who recently shared photos of herself and two friends wearing Blackface while dressed up as Venus, Serena and Kobe Bryant at a party, along with a “disclaimer” reading “we were praising our fav sports stars,” according to ABC Australia.

We’ve already gone into the problems with Blackface extensively, and so have others, so we won’t rehash all that here. Clearly Blackface has a racist history, and everyone should know that by now. But Applegarth insisted there was no “‘racist’ or malicious intent by the photos I just uploaded,” in a post on her now deleted Instagram.

“We were praising our fav sports stars Serena and Venus Williams. Did not mean to offend.”

In a private message thread ABC reports seeing, one of the women pictured said she considered criticisms of the images “unreasonable harassment,” and threatened legal action against those who criticized her.

Applegarth is represented by Chic Management. You can find their contact info here.