Justice

Gabourey Sidibe Claps Back at Publication That Confused Her With Amber Riley

September 2nd 2016

"Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe wasn't thrilled to discover she was featured on a listicle congratulating celebrities for their "weight loss transformations." And for good reason: the outlet, Time to Break, mistook Sidibe for a different actress, Amber Riley.

Sidibe fired back in a tweet informing the publication — which also referred to her by her character's name "Precious" in a header — that it mistook two black actresses for the same person.

The publication has not removed the "Empire" actress from the list since the Sidibe's tweet, which has since been shared over 800 times.

Time to BreakTime to Break - timetobreak.comTime to BreakTime to Break - timetobreak.com

Also insulting is the site's body-shaming suggestion that Sidibe could only "live up to her beautiful name" via drastic weight loss in its tweet — once again seeming to confuse Sidibe's name with her breakout role in "Precious."

Actors and actresses of color are (absurdly) mixed-up semi-frequently by celebrity gossip websites.

This week, the Daily Mail identified actor William DeMeritt as Lupita Nyong’o's boyfriend Mobolaji Dawodu.

“Not all brown people look alike,” DeMeritt said it in call with Jezebel. True!

Earlier this year, Sidibe made headlines for a sex scene in "Empire" that ignited the viral body acceptance hashtag #MyFatSexStory.

"That scene was a lot bigger of a deal than I thought it would be," Sidibe told MTV News."I thought it was something fun. It turns out it's a movement now, which is very strange, but delightful."

"Also, yes. I, a plus sized, dark-skinned woman, had a love scene on primetime television," she wrote on EW. "I had the most fun ever filming that scene even though I was nervous. But I felt sexy and beautiful and I felt like I was doing a good job."

In this context, the headline "Precious is Skinny Now and It Will Make Your Jaw Drop" seems especially tone-deaf in addition to being factually incorrect.

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