Lupita Nyong’o photographer says sorry for Photoshopping Grazia cover

Lupita Nyong'o has received a second apology after highlighting the offensive way her image was altered on the cover of a British magazine. Grazia U.K. issued its own statement on November 10 after the Oscar-winning actress said her hair was altered on the November issue to meet "Eurocentric ideals."

Now, as The Guardian reports, photographer An Le has confirmed that it was him that Photoshopped the image and admitted that erasing parts of her hair was an “unbelievably damaging and hurtful act.”

He apologized for an “incredibly monumental mistake” and said the change “was not born out of any hate, but instead out of my own ignorance and insensitivity to the constant slighting of women of colour throughout the different media platforms”.

“I’ve had some time to reflect on my part in the incident involving Grazia and Ms Nyong’o,” he said. “I realize now what an incredibly monumental mistake I have made and I would like to take this time to apologize to Ms Nyong’o and everyone else that I did offend.

“Though it was not my intention to hurt anyone, I can see now that altering the image of her hair was an unbelievably damaging and hurtful act. As an immigrant myself, it is my duty to be an advocate for the representation of diversity of beauty in this industry. I will demonstrate this in my work even more going forward.”

Le continued: “There is no excuse for my actions. I deeply regret the pain I’ve caused Ms Nyong’o, a woman I’ve admired for quite some time now. Again, I would like to say I’m deeply sorry to everyone I did offend. I want to thank Lupita for addressing this important issue.”

In her original statement, Nyong'o said she was not consulted about the changes and would not have agreed to an "omission of what is my native heritage."