Amelia Gray Hamlin is accused of 'blackfishing' for sharing dark-skinned photo. She says she tans 'very easily'

Model Amelia Gray Hamlin, daughter of Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna, found herself under public scrutiny on Friday following the release of her post-vacation photos, as Instagram users flocked to her comments to point out her noticeably darker-than-usual skin tone.

Many accused her what's known as "blackfishing."

Blackfishing, a concept coined by Black culture writer Wanna Thompson, is a subset of cultural appropriation, and just one of the many forms that can take. It is essentially “catfishing” people to believe that you are Black when you aren’t — either online or off — in order to profit, whether socially or financially. This, alongside the other forms of cultural appropriation, allows a more privileged person to essentially capitalize off of historically oppressed groups.

Blackfishing can include “white women who have, through their Instagram accounts, pretended and modeled Black aesthetics” by darkening their skin, exaggerating their lips, wearing hairstyles created by Black people, adopting certain dress styles or presenting as racially ambiguous, sociologist Jessie Daniels, author of Cyber Racism, told Yahoo Life in July.

But in response to the backlash, Amelia says, "There is no self tanner involved. Or intention of looking darker than my own natural skin color."

The commenting feature has since been disabled on her post, but the photo — which has now garnered over 31,600 likes — remains. On her current Instagram Story, the model, who first acknowledged the accusations before denying them, wrote, "I am being told that I am 'black fishing.’ — Thank you all for educating me on this topic."

The 19-year-old is not the first celeb to be accused of such, as both Kylie Jenner and Arianna Grande have been called out for similar offenses. Daniels had pointed out that blackfishing is now popular among celebrities, as they tend “to play with Black culture, not in just an appreciative way, but in an appropriative way … some of them going as far as lying about their identity.”

But despite appearing darker than she had been in any previously shared photos, Amelia explained, “I recently went on vacation in the sun, and with my Italian heritage I tan very easily… I had a lot of fun creating this look with no malice intention or offense."

Still, not everyone is buying it.

Read more from Yahoo Life:

• 9-year-old pepper-sprayed by Rochester police was latest child of color 'adultified' by authorities. Here's why that's so dangerous.

• From Gorilla Glue mishap to 'The Bachelor': Why is it so hard to give Black women grace?

• Is Black History Month enough? Changemakers discuss its relevance in the midst of racial justice movements.

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