It was 5 a.m. in Los Angeles and I was walking my half-asleep self to the hair and makeup tent so I could be done up to blend into a 1960s-themed state fair movie scene. I was a background actor, but this was my moment to shine.
I hopped into the next available stylist's chair after the previous actor left with her hair bumped up and face beat like she walked out of a 1960s magazine. My hair was in its natural state, curls poppin' per usual, and my face bare aside from foundation and mascara. Five minutes later, she was done. I walked out of her chair with a horrendous shade of pink lipstick and a couple strands of my curls pulled back and clipped with a bobby pin after the stylist said "we don't need to do much, your hair is cute!" Spoiler: I looked a hot mess.
That was in 2013. In 2021, things don't seem to be getting much better, experts say.
On last week's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," the comedian devoted a segment of the episode to Black hair discrimination, illustrating how these issues permeate all walks of life, from work to entertainment. "Even in Hollywood, stylists who are both familiar with Black hair and who are in the stylist's union are rare and actors definitely know when their production has failed to hire one," Oliver says.
Gabrielle Union, Monique Coleman, Chris Chalk, Taraji P. Henson, Natasha Rothwell and more Black actors and actresses have spoken up as recently as this year about showing up to work and having to either do their own hair and makeup or having to sit through a stylist who didn't know what they were doing.
Despite the abundance of talented Black hair and makeup stylists – and the years of ongoing conversations highlighting numerous instances of discrimination when it comes to Black actors – the issue is still prevalent in Hollywood, experts say.
Beauty reporter Darian Harvin believes over time, Black actors have found workarounds to the problem so they end up looking presentable on screen.
"We know good and well that there are white actors who are able to come on set and have everything that they need provided in order for them to perform and to do their jobs," Harvin says. "There's always just this added extra labor when it comes to being a Black actor, ensuring that you are protecting your own image and you are also portraying your character."
"Insecure" actress and former "Saturday Night Live" writer Rothwell told the Hollywood Reporter last year she used to buy her own beauty supplies (which would sometimes cost about as much as her day's work) and have to do her own hair because she didn't expect the on-set stylist to know how to. And she's far from the only Black actress with this experience.
Henson also told the outlet after multiple bad experiences with stylists, including one who damaged her hair, she brought one in at her own expense. Upon exiting "America's Got Talent" last year, Union said the show's producers offered "excessive notes" about her hairstyles, allegedly calling them "too wild." "High School Musical" star Monique Coleman revealed her character Taylor McKessie's signature headbands were because the crew didn't know how to work with Black hair.
"That is something Hollywood should be embarrassed about," Harvin says. "I feel embarrassed for Hollywood, that they have not gotten it together. I feel embarrassed for the people who are supposed to be taking care of (actors like Rothwell), which are her producers or her people on set."
Black stylists don't have the privilege of not knowing how to work with different types of hair. Yet when non-Black stylists are unable, not willing or simply don't know how to do Black hair, they get to "skate," Everett says, adding Black stylists often have to pick up the slack.
"What you do for one, do for all," celebrity hair stylist Monaè Everett says. "I can style all hair textures. To me, that's an absolute requirement of being a hairstylist."
Celebrity makeup artist Yolonda Frederick says it's a professional makeup artist's responsibility to accommodate clients of different backgrounds.
"Not offering a quality service to a diverse clientele shows a lack of professional integrity. For me, it sends the message that brown women are not important enough to be valued as viable clients," Frederick says.
And having Black stylists only work on Black celebs because no other stylists are able can paint those creatives into a corner.
"I have been pitched for countless jobs where my skill set is questioned because of my brown skin. Somehow it is presumed that because I’m Black that I can only work with brown skin tones," Frederick says, noting that after 30 years in the industry it's insulting to be challenged in this way. "Imagine being told you lack diversity in your content, but rarely given the opportunity to expand that diversity? … Especially when my non-Black peers are given the opportunity to work with all ethnicities without pause."
Everett believes gatekeeping is a contributing factor to the lack of Black hair stylists in entertainment.
"If you have more white people in positions of authority, they're looking out for their friends and the people that they like to do business with ... if they're casting for a movie, they're going to call their homegirl, their homegirl tends to have friends who look like them," Everett says.
In her 20 years of working as a hair stylist, with 15 years as a celebrity stylist, Everett says the first time she's seen diversity in the field taken seriously was earlier this year at New York Fashion Week.
"Normally there's a Black girl corner and you get sent all the Black girls," Everett says.
This time around, she says the organizers of the show she worked went out of their way to hire diverse stylists and vetted them to ensure they knew how to work with all types of hair textures. Black models sat in white stylists' chairs and Black artists styled Asian models, something Everett says she's never seen before.
But the biggest changes some like Frederick have seen is an increasing amount of beauty products made for women of color.
Black Hair in Hollywood: A Tangled Issue
"I feel like real conversations are just beginning to happen," Frederick says, citing America's recent racial reckoning. "This has brought more attention to the ills of exclusion and the brands and professionals who practice it. At the moment, it seems that many are attempting get on the right side of history. However, only time will tell if these shifts towards inclusion are truly authentic."
Still, Harvin says it's "astonishing" Black stylists are barely receiving their due: Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson became the first Black women to win the makeup and hairstyling Oscar for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at April's Academy Awards.
"Even that, in itself, lets you know that there is still work to be done," Harvin says.
What can be done to fix it?
Everett says some of the onus falls on Black actors to help fix this problem. For film and television jobs, stylists need to complete a certain number of hours on production sets along with other requirements in order to qualify for labor union The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild. Everett says a way to get around this requirement is for Black lead actors to advocate for Black stylists and bring them on set themselves.
Actors in starring roles often have the ability to bring in artists of their choosing, Everett notes.
"You can make sure that you look good, you can help them get into the union and get the hours that they need and you can help diversify Hollywood."
Harvin says for starters, change could start with The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild ensuring Black stylists get into the union and are getting hired for projects. She also says once the stylists are in, it's pertinent that they're treated fairly and equitably and are paid well.
"Ultimately, the reason why we keep on having this conversation is because this issue is systemic," Harvin says.
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