Jordyn Woods
photo: Getty Images

A beauty brand just said that Jordyn Woods has "bad hair," and it's really not OK. Bellami Hair posted a meme on its Instagram suggesting that Kylie Jenner was paying for Woods' hair extensions, and jokes that she must've been cut off, given recent events that we need not explain.

People were pretty upset that a beauty brand could say something so negative. It's especially upsetting that Woods is one of the few people of color featured on the brand's social media. Bellami Hair later issued an apology saying that it didn't mean to offend anyone.  

Jordyn Woods posted on Instagram for the first time since the cheating scandal to show off an adorable, short new haircut.

Woods posted a picture of herself on Instagram with an uplifting caption about being positive. One aspect that stands out about that is she cut her hair. A hair brand saw this new picture of Woods and thought that this was a great time to make fun of her.

Bellami Hair reposted that picture of Woods and joked about her "bad hair."

"When Kylie Jenner stops paying for your lifestyle, including your hair extensions," read the text above the photo. Then the post was captioned with: "Bad hair is just one betrayal away. These memes have us loling." Then it prompts followers to shop on the brand's website "for the hair you deserve."

Bellami is a well-known hair extension brand that aligns itself heavily with the Kardashians and similar celebrities.

Twitter immediately rushed to Woods' defense.

The original post is now deleted, but plenty of people took screenshots and saved the comments that were in favor of both sides. The comments in support of Woods condemned the brand for making fun of a black woman, especially in regards to her hair. They wanted the brand to apologize to Woods and felt that the post was anti-black.

Some noticed that the comments in defense of the brand were all written by white women.

The people commenting on the original meme in defense of Bellami, as pointed out by this tweet, were all white women. White people have no place telling black women what they should and shouldn't be offended by. Hair has always been a hot-button issue in the black community, and there are so many different ways our hair is discriminated against that white people can never fully understand.

If you look at the brand's Instagram, too, it almost exclusively features white women. 

Bellami Hair's Instagram
photo: Instagram/BellamiHair

I think it's very interesting that an insulting meme is one of the few times Bellami Hair has posted a black woman on its Instagram. And even when there are women of color on the page, they all have a rather fair complexion and relaxed hair, suggesting endless theories about the brand's stance on blackness.

Bellami Hair deleted its offensive meme and apologized to Woods.

View this post on Instagram

We would like to sincerely apologize to Jordyn Woods and our followers and for the social media post that was shared on our platform yesterday that may of offended anyone either directly or indirectly. We believe that all hair types are beautiful especially natural hair we did not want to hurt or offend anyone with our post but just intentions are not enough. Because of our emphasis on wigs and extensions the inclusion of “bad hair” was a very poor choice of words and insensitive, we sincerely apologize, this is a subjective phrase and we never wanted to target or insult anyone who chooses not to wear our products. Regardless of this apology it is unacceptable and we recognize this and will do better. We are deeply sorry to Jordyn and to anyone who was upset by the caption and post regardless of intentions we are striving to continuously expand our product lines so we can provide products that are suited for all hair types, textures, lengths and shades. We will strive to do better and be more mindful of sharing uplifting and positive content as it is never our intention to insult or attack anyone. Thank you all for bringing this to our attention and allowing us to address this with you all. Much Love

A post shared by BELLAMI Hair® (@bellamihair) on

The brand quickly reposted the original picture of Woods with an apology, which you can read in full below.

"We would like to sincerely apologize to Jordyn Woods and our followers and for the social media post that was shared on our platform yesterday that may of offended anyone either directly or indirectly. We believe that all hair types are beautiful especially natural hair we did not want to hurt or offend anyone with our post but just intentions are not enough. 

"Because of our emphasis on wigs and extensions the inclusion of 'bad hair' was a very poor choice of words and insensitive, we sincerely apologize, this is a subjective phrase and we never wanted to target or insult anyone who chooses not to wear our products. Regardless of this apology it is unacceptable and we recognize this and will do better. 

We are deeply sorry to Jordyn and to anyone who was upset by the caption and post regardless of intentions we are striving to continuously expand our product lines so we can provide products that are suited for all hair types, textures, lengths and shades. We will strive to do better and be more mindful of sharing uplifting and positive content as it is never our intention to insult or attack anyone. Thank you all for bringing this to our attention and allowing us to address this with you all."

Some people felt the apology fell short.

Brands wouldn't have to apologize for doing racist things if they simply didn't do racist things. Brands need to think about the things they post online to a public audience. This is why representation is so important. If black people, people of color, and those of other minority groups were employed by these companies, someone would be able to point out offensive things and avoid these kinds of problems. 

Some people apparently went so far as to report the page.

Some people on Twitter said they reported the page for bullying and harassment. The page is still up, but it looks like a number of people have reported it. One user posted a poll asking if they should report the page, and 87% of the responses said yes. 

Another person pointed out the other large issue — that Bellami used a put-down of another person for profit.

Bellami Hair said that the post was a joke, but it used that same post to promote itself. That's understandable considering that it's the brand's social media page, but it is a way for the brand to suggest that Woods does not fit their standard of beauty and needs Bellami's products to do so. 

At the end of the day, though, we all need to ditch the idea that Jenner is Woods' only income source.

Since the cheating scandal, many tabloids have claimed that Jenner paid for Woods' "entire life." But Woods has her own well-to-do family and has sustained a steady career with her modeling and social media following. It's not as if Jenner found Woods on the street with no food and water and took her in when she had nothing. This is yet another white savior plot line we do not need to be following.