Priyanka Chopra talks about featuring in fairness cream ad in past: ‘the commercial was so damaging’

Actor Priyanka Chopra opened up about her early years in the film industry in a recent interview and recalled how she faced colourism. She spoke about being lightened for the screen in many movies and also about starring in 'damaging' skin fairness ads during the mid-2000s.

Speaking with Dax Shepard on the podcast ‘Armchair Expert’, she said, ‘When I joined the movie business, if you were fair, you were guaranteed some sort of success or casting, but if you were darker... and I'm not even that dark. For darker girls, it was like, well, let's lighten you up. I was lightened up in many movies.’

She added, ‘We were taught that damaging bullsh*t. Even I got caught up into it and I look back on that, the commercial was so damaging. I'm darker skinned and this guy comes in, selling flowers, and he doesn't even look at me. I start using this cream and I get a job, I get the guy and all my dreams come true. That was like the mid-2000s.’

For the unversed, Saif Ali Khan and Neha Dhupia were also part of the fairness cream campaign with Priyanka.

Priyanka further credited her generation for speaking about harmful stereotypes of discrimination amongst Indians.

Priyanka now lives in Los Angeles with her husband, singer Nick Jonas, and daughter, Malti Marie Jonas. She will soon make her OTT debut with Prime Video’s ‘Citadel’ which is premiering next month. She is also awaiting the release of her film ‘Love Again’ opposite Sam Heughan.

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