‘Seriously??’: Tracee Ellis Ross At Center of Natural Hair Debate After Magazine’s Description of Her Afro Triggers Fan Backlash
Fans of former “Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross are rushing to her defense after she was publicly disrespected by a colleague she’s had a very […] ‘Seriously??’: Tracee Ellis Ross At Center of Natural Hair Debate After Magazine’s Description of Her Afro Triggers Fan Backlash
Black News 
Fans of former “Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross are rushing to her defense after she was publicly disrespected by a colleague she’s had a very long relationship with.
The 53-year-old actress and fashionista is the daughter of singer Diana Ross and music manager Robert Ellis Silberstein. She learned to embrace her natural hair growing up as a child actor and model, but she hasn’t always gotten the respect she deserves, and her latest viral moment proves it.
Ross’ fans and women alike are outraged over a Vogue article titled “16 Flattering Haircuts for Thick Hair, No Matter Your Texture or Length,” which was published on April 14. It included a picture of Ross rocking an Afro and a bizarre description.
The article read, “Defined by hairstylist Tom Smith as a ’rounded haircut with a soft, airy silhouette,’ the cloud bob plays well with wavy, curly, and coily thick hair that has natural movement and volume.”
A clip of the post was shared on X with the caption, “It’s 2026 and they’re calling an Afro a ‘cloud bob.'”
After receiving backlash on social media, the article was updated, but that hasn’t stopped fans and supporters of Ross from roasting the fashion magazine.
Actress Yvette Nicole Brown also shared the Vogue clip on Threads with the caption, “Afro. The word they’re looking for here is: AFRO. And it wasn’t created by that Tim Smith dude. Cloud bob my [emoji].”
Another fan shared the clip on X with a sentiment felt by many online. “I’m so tired of the colonizer nonsense. A cloud bob? Seriously? That is an Afro. It’s been an afro for decades and it will remain an Afro. GTFOOHWTBS! Cloud bob. WTF?”
“Cloud bob is pissing me and my homegirls clean off,” another user noted.
A cloud bob is the craziest sh— I’ve heard about Black hair.
— Claire Huxtable (@Garyville_Girl) April 16, 2026
And meanwhile, her mom dazzled with that hairstyle!pic.twitter.com/28gechn5CF
One fan shared a picture of Diana Ross sporting a crown in her Motown years. The post was captioned, “A cloud bob is the craziest sh— I’ve heard about Black hair. And meanwhile, her mom dazzled with that hairstyle!”
Vogue’s update included removing the “cloud bob” part from the article, which fans noticed. “They removed it. Ridiculous bs. An Afro being called a cloud bob. And what is a bixie? That’s the same pixie cut we all had in the 1990s.”
Despite the outrage, Ross smiled in a photo shared on her Instagram Story on April 16 though instead of rocking her afro, she pulled her hair back in a low bun.
The “Girlfriends” star began embracing her natural curly hair after many years of struggling to conform to society’s standards, sharing photo montages on Instagram with messages about her hair evolution throughout her life.
“A TALE OF TEXTURES,” Ross wrote in 2020. “My hair has played many a role throughout my life. When I was a teen, I didn’t understand it so I tried everything under the sun to make it do what I thought it should. The results were not great. Namely, it was fried. But, once I began listening to my hair and started figuring out what it liked, my true curl pattern emerged.”
She also spoke about going grey, which she says has changed the texture of her hair.
“By the time I made it onto ‘Girlfriends’ my hair was healthy and POPPIN,” she continued. “But as I have grown and matured my texture has evolved. My hair is now turning grey (evidence of my life and my years). And while the grey has changed my texture and the dye I use to cover it has loosened my pattern, I finally know my hair inside and out.”
Ross added that she wasn’t ready to embrace going gray quite yet, but she now loves her natural hair.
“Taking the time to accept, understand and love my hair mirrors the relationship I have with myself,” she wrote. ” I have grown to love and appreciate my hair in all of its seasons. Because hair love IS self love.”
Ross has her own beauty brand called PATTERN, which she founded back in 2019 for people with 3B-4C hair. The haircare founder said that her brand is “made by and for us” during an interview with WWD.
“Pattern is about products made by and for us,” she said. “And it’s about creating a space for a community that exists, to celebrate our beauty and magic… I have been marketing my hair since my social media started. It’s such a huge part of my being-ness, of who I am and how I dress myself. Now I have a name for it.”
Ross added that she went to boarding school in Switzerland, and there weren’t many kids that looked like her, so she relaxed her hair to fit in.
“I started my journey relaxing my hair, going to the salon every Saturday to get my hair wet and set, sitting under a dryer, and getting blown out and trying to extend that Saturday hair through the week,” she recalled. “Then having my mom wake up and press my edges, sleeping in sponge rollers and getting a crook in my neck, and wearing my hair so tight I’d get headaches trying to get a slicked-back ponytail.”
After college, though, Ross was done with relaxing her hair, and her hair evolution is complete, at least until she embraces those grays.
