Swedish model denies she pretended to be black to get followers

A Swedish model, who landed herself in a social media soup after being accused of pretending to be black to attract more followers, has finally come up with some explanation.

Emma Hallberg gained popularity on Instagram for her splendid makeup skills and trendy fashion sense.

Going by her deep complexion and curly hair, the followers thought either she is black or mixed race. However, that bubble was effectively popped when a photo of Hallberg surfaced on the internet showing her in a much lighter skin tone and straight hair.

Shortly after the picture went viral, people started pointing out the stark difference between the two skin tones and accusing her of pretending to be black to gain popularity. "I honestly thought Emma Hallberg was half black," a fan tweeted.

"This Swedish White girl is guilty of 'blackfishing,' a term used to describe someone who masquerades as a Black person to deceive others. By extreme tanning, dark makeup & braids, this fraud is exposed!" wrote another fan.

After keeping mum for a while, Hallberg had to come out and give an explanation. "Yes I'm white and I've never claimed to be anything else. And by no way, there are no "before" pictures, the pictures that have been spread are just two different pictures taken on two different seasons of the year."

In a series of Instagram stories, titled 'Let me explain' Hallberg wrote, "You've probably seen these two pictures besides [sic] each other all over Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, where they are called the 'before & after."

"The left picture was taken 2 years ago right before summer with barely any makeup and my hair straightened. The right picture was taken in July, right after I came home from a vacation, with makeup," she continued explaining.

The 19-year-old credited her skin tone to spending a lot of time in the sun and thus ending up with the beautiful natural tan. "This is how the sun tans my skin naturally during the summer," Hallberg explained.

Explaining the reason behind using a darker makeup for her face she said it matches her face to the rest of her body. "Why my face is less tanned than my body is because I have some acne and scar issues so I use a lot of face scrubs, toners, and peeling products," she wrote.

Concluding the series of stories by saying she does not get her sponsorships and work opportunities because of the color of her skin, she gets them because of the way she styles herself.