Coco Gauff deleted social media for a month but felt the need to return and post a message on TikTok earlier this week.
The tennis star's message came in an eight-minute-long video after she said she had become aware of negative comments about her appearance, including her natural hair, in a new advertisement for Miu Miu.
Gauff explained the behind-the-scenes of the photoshoot and photo selection process, as well as how she didn't want her hair slicked back for photos because it's "not good for my hair."
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"There are thousands of people talking about the way that I look, and not in a positive way..." Gauff began.
"I'm not gonna apologize for the way that my hair looked, because there are other girls who had the exact same hair as me, and I just wanted them to feel represented that your hair is literally fine the way it is. My hair was good enough for a high-fashionable brand like Miu Miu to promote one of their newest launches. So if my 4C hair is good enough for that, yours is good enough to do whatever it is you need it to do. I'm not going to apologize for that."
Gauff also explained that she did minimal makeup for the photos, rather than a "full face," to connect with fans through that "minimum" Miu Miu "aesthetic."
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"To all the young Black girls out there who have kinky hair like me, do what you want to do with your hair. . . .Do what you want to do, because at the end of the day, people who hate on your appearance and hate on the way you look have something deeply insecure about themselves. The only reason people comment on people's looks, especially people who present themselves in their most natural sense, have something deeply wrong with them. And they're insecure about themselves, so they feel the need to put someone else down to make themselves feel better."
By the same token, Gauff also expressed that those who want to wear weaves, wigs, makeup and "the whole shebang" should if they want to.
"Do what you want to do. Minimal is beautiful. Camp is beautiful. Both spectrums, anything in between, is beautiful."
Gauff admitted she was feeling "rough" after seeing the criticism.
"Y'all did knock a diva down, I'm not gonna lie," she said. "I'm someone who has struggled with my looks throughout my life just being a young Black girl in this world. . . . But diva got up, and I feel better than ever," she said.
"And I just want any person who's watching this who does feel insecure about themselves, you are perfectly fine, honestly."
The 2023 U.S. Open champion will defend her French Open title beginning May 19.
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