Katy Perry-Designed Shoes Pulled Amid Blackface Backlash

Pieces from the collection have been removed from Dillards and Walmart stores.

Katy Perry
Katy Perry at The Human Rights Campaign 2017 Los Angeles Gala in Los Angeles, California. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images )
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Of all the blackface scandals to surface this Black History Month, this may be the most bizarre.

Singer-apparently-designer Katy Perry is facing scrutiny from the social media masses after her brand released a pair of black sandals featuring eyes and large red lips along the top. The shoes that, as the New York Post points out, evoke — intentionally or not — the racist imagery associated with blackface.

Retailers Dillards and Walmart will pull the offending styles, though not the whole line, from its stores after social media backlash, the Post reported.

The outrage comes just days after Gucci pulled a turtleneck featuring a mouth cover with wide red lips from its website and two months after Prada incited anger with a range of accessories featuring black characters with oversized lips.

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