STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

This Hateful Retired Basketball Player Says 'Lupita Is Only Cute With the Lights Off'

Gilbert Arenas has some gross thoughts on Black beauty.

Gibert Arenas (yes, I had to Google him too) took to Instagram today to spew some unwanted hatred against women, but particularly Black women because we can't go a day without this kind of unneccessary nonsense! 

Please see his disappointing comments on an positive Instagram post that reads, "Dear Black Girl, you don't have to be mixed to be beautiful." Arenas's response was captured by The Shade Room:

Apparently, Arenas disagrees with this meme, stating that actually only a handful of Black women who are dark are also beautiful siting very beautiful women like Keisha Knight Pullam, Gabrielle Union and Serena Williams. He then goes on to claim that women with "African features," Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o specifically, are less desirable and only "cute with the lights off." If that didn't disgust you enough, he actually says that Black women who are dark and have confidence are somehow mistaken. "Sorry but ewww," he writes.

I can't believe this is a story that I have to write today, but this man really, really tried it. He needs to take a good hard look in the mirror and consider the kind of hateful message he is spreading. Just this week, a beautiful young girl had to leave school because

First things first—who bullied this beautiful young lady? I just wanna talk… _____________________________________ There are often stories of young children, as well as adults who talk about having a lack of self-esteem because of being bullied on social media. The social media comment game took a turn for the better when it came to10-year-old Kheris Pollard’s #BlackGirlMagic. _____________________________________ According to Buzzfeed, Kheris was one of four black girls enrolled in her class and her mom had to transfer her to a different school because of how bad the bullying affected her daughter. _____________________________________ “She started to notice she was different,” Kheris’ older sister Taylor told Buzzfeed. “She would cry a lot, and talk about how she doesn&#39;t like her skin tone.” _____________________________________ Once her mom enrolled her in a different school with more diverse students, the bullying wasn’t as bad, however, she was still receiving negative comments about her skin tone—this time from other black students, which was more surprising to the family. _____________________________________ It seems like all the kids who bullied her will have the last laugh because Kheris is more confident than ever after her sister uploaded a photo of her that went viral. _____________________________________ The caption for the photo read, “My sister is only 10, but already royalty #FlexinInHerComplexion.” _____________________________________ People were--Read more at theshaderoom.com</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-04-12T21:20:57+00:00">Apr 12, 2017 at 2:20pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>" target="_blank">she was being bullied for her dark skin. She is 10. What do you think her confidence level will be like a 21? This history of colorism and self-loathing has no place in 2017 and certainly has no place on Instagram, where people who might have liked the originally positive message could see it. Not today Arenas.

Luckily for this man, he allegedly has two mixed daughters, so it's safe to assume their complexions will fall on the favorable side of the paper bag test. But make no mistake that they are Black children and they might have their own struggles with racism, colorism and beauty standards. I would hope this would make Arenas feel more compassion, but evidently he doesn't.

Not that we should expect anything better from this man, who said that any women born before 1983 should stay away from All-Star Weeked to let "the young hoes" have fun. Yeah, he has some serious issues with women. 

In any case, it doesn't seem like too many people are sharing his sentiment. Most people are asking "who??" And as for dark women with "African" features not being beautiful? Well, I guess he missed Maria Borges on the cover of Elle this month. 

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.