The London Evening Standard has apologised to Solange Knowles for airbrushing her crown of braids from an image on the cover of its magazine.
The singer, whose songs include Don’t Touch My Hair, was featured in the magazine discussing her upcoming album, as well as the “art form” and cultural legacy for black women of braiding their hair.
It emerged on Friday that the newspaper, which is edited by the former chancellor George Osborne, had digitally removed Knowles’ braids from the cover of its ES Magazine.
Knowles called out the publication on social media, posting a picture of the original, unaltered image on Instagram with the caption “dtmh” – an abbreviation of Don’t Touch My Hair, a track on her critically acclaimed 2016 album A Seat at the Table.
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.
When the Standard posted its image of the cover, with the braids removed, fans attacked the publication, accusing it of racism for editing out a core part of the singer’s cultural identity.
The paper has now offered “unreserved apologies” to Knowles, saying the image was changed for “layout purposes”.
In a statement, the Standard said: “We were delighted to have the chance to interview the wonderful Solange Knowles and photograph her for this week’s edition of ES.
“It is therefore a matter of great regret that the finished cover artwork caused concern and offence.
“The decision to amend the photograph was taken for layout purposes, but plainly we made the wrong call and we have offered our unreserved apologies to Solange.”
The journalist who interviewed Knowles has also asked for her name to be removed from the article and publicly disowned it.
In a series of tweets, Angelica Bastien said: “I am publicly disowning the Solange piece London Evening Standard published today. The entire piece was a fiasco despite my efforts.
“I told my editors to take my name off of the byline because they distorted my work and reporting in ways that made me very uncomfortable, which was heartbreaking given how much work I put into it and my interest in Solange as an artist.”
The story describes braiding as “important to Knowles”. The singer told the magazine: “It is an act of beauty, an act of convenience and an act of tradition,” adding that it is “its own art form”.
Discussing growing up around her mother’s hair salon, Knowles said: “I got to experience women arriving in one state of mind and leaving in a completely transformed way.
“It wasn’t just about the hair. It was about the sisterhood and the storytelling. Being a young girl who was really active in dance, theatre and on the swim team, the salon was a kind of safe haven.”