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Bored Panda

Entertainment

Rocio Corsi

The Biggest Celebrity Fake Tan Fails After Khloé Kardashian’s “Unrecognizable” Billboard Controversy

Khloé Kardashian Ariana Grande Beyoncé Emma Stone Jennifer Lawrence Kardashians (Organization) Kim Kardashian Paris Hilton Pete Davidson Robert Kardashian

In April 2026, a photo of Khloé Kardashian appeared on a new billboard in Los Angeles, on which she is promoting her new Khloud protein chips. In the advertisement, she is seen wearing a red strappy dress, a golden necklace, and her hair in waves framing her tanned face.

The picture has kick-started a new conversation about Khloé’s look, accusing her of “blackfishing.”

“Billboard so misleading even her own kids wouldn't recognize her,” a netizen wrote. Another said, “She doesn't look like that because she's in blackface.”

“This lady just loves blackfishing,” said a third. A fourth wrote, “What in the cultural appropriation hell is this?”

“She should probably lay off the tans for a while or else her credit score is gonna plummet,” one joked.

Many said that Khloé was looking like Beyoncé in the poster.

Khloé Kardashian turns heads with new billboard in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/yDg8WcLbdL
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 18, 2026

“I was scrolling too fast and thought this was Beyoncé,” one said.

“This is borderline stealing someone’s likeness, Beyoncé, get the lawyers,” a person bantered.

“Khloé out here blackfishing harder than her protein chips fish for sales. Beyoncé called, she wants her glow back,” one more said.

One individual thought that the darker skin tone was done deliberately for media attention: “I know d*mn well she made herself seem more black to get CONTROVERSY.”

A comment Khloé left under a TikTok video seemed to confirm the theory for some fans.

A popular TikToker shared a video of the Khloud protein chips banner, saying, “She’s Khloé, and she’s Black, and she’s back!”

“I’m crying, what is going on?” Khloé commented on the post, prompting speculation that she was hoping for this kind of media response.

“She said mission accomplished,” a person said. “Exactly what she was going for,” another wrote.

A third said, “Khloe is laughing all the way to the bank with this free advertisement.”

Some fans defended Khloé’s tan look, citing her Armenian ancestry on her father Robert Kardashian's side.

Image credits: khloekardashian

Accusations of “blackfishing”—a term used to describe adopting aesthetics associated with Black culture—have followed the Kardashian-Jenner family for years.

Critics have pointed to instances in which the sisters have appeared with significantly darker skin tones, fuller lip styling, tightly braided hairstyles, or fashion choices rooted in Black culture, either in public appearances or in photoshoots or social media posts.

Wanna Thompson, the journalist who coined the term “blackfishing” while writing about the viral trend of “white girls cosplaying as Black women” in 2018, recalled the time Kim Kardashian wore cornrows and the media labeled them “boxer braids,” rebranding the centuries-old hairstyle worn by Black people.

“Now people think they’re copying the Kardashian-Jenners when they dress or do their hair or tan their skin a certain way,” Thompson wrote.

Khloé Kardashian, in particular, has faced backlash multiple times over photos where her skin tone appeared noticeably darker than usual, prompting debates online about tanning and cultural appropriation.

She was accused of it in April 2022 after attending an event for The Kardashians show before its debut on Hulu. She wore a pink jumpsuit and a metallic necklace.

Her photos were flooded with allegations of “straight-up blackfishing” online, with some even calling her tan “vicious.”

The same year, she was also called out for sporting the Bantu knot, a traditional Black hairstyle.

In 2023, Khloé’s “Bratz doll” Halloween look drew considerable criticism for her notably tan skin.

“She's literally 10 shades darker,” a user wrote under her photos on Instagram. Another commented, “The Kardashians are so loony. I thought this was a black woman.”

However, the Kardashians are not the only celebrities to be accused of appropriating Black culture. Several Hollywood A-listers have been mocked and criticized for their fake tans, such as Victoria Beckham, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Lawrence, and Paris Hilton.

Ariana Grande, like the Kardashians, has consistently been at the receiving end of such allegations.

Grande’s ex-partner, Pete Davidson, with whom she had a whirlwind romance from May to October 2018 and was even engaged for a while, famously slammed her tanning habits in his Netflix special Alive From New York.

In the hour-long set, the comedian responded to Grande labeling their relationship “insane and highly unrealistic” in an August 2019 Vogue interview.

“Can you imagine if I did that?” Davidson joked. “My career would be over tomorrow if I spray-painted myself brown and hopped on the cover of Vogue magazine and just started sh*tting on my ex.”

Check out more celebrities who have been accused of blackfishing in the list collected by Bored Panda.