Tracee Ellis Ross Reacts to The Vogue’s ‘Cloud Bob’ Controversy

After a Vogue photo that described the Afro as a "cloud bob" sparked outrage online, the subject of the now-viral pic has entered the chat.

Apr 21, 2026 - 21:01

Tracee Ellis Ross Reacts to The Vogue’s ‘Cloud Bob’ Controversy

Last week, we told you about the Vogue piece that set the internet on fire for attempting to give the afro a new name. The term “cloud bob” was used in a story about the best haircuts for thick natural hair to describe a photo of Tracee Ellis Ross wearing the hairstyle, which was popularized by people of color in the 1960s and 1970s.

As the picture and the head-scratching name spread across social media, many who saw it weren’t shy about sharing their frustration about the attempted rebranding of such an important symbol of Black history. Tom Smith, the hairstylist who is quoted as calling Ross’ look a “cloud bob,” responded to the controversy, saying the quote he gave was taken out of context and was not intended to describe the Afro, as The Root reported. He went on to say that after realizing how upset people were, his team reached out to the folks at Vogue and had the post taken down.

Now it seems that the beloved subject of the photo that had so many outraged online has entered the chat. In an April 18 post on Instagram, actress and beauty entrepreneur Tracee Ellis Ross dropped a gorgeous carousel of photos of herself with her hair styled in various versions of the afro. Although the post wasn’t captioned, the stunning pictures certainly spoke for themselves and confirmed that Ross, whose PATTERN Beauty business was built to make the beauty space more inclusive, was not on board the “cloud bob” train. And as you might expect, the reactions came in hot. To date, the post has received more than 110,000 likes and comments ranging from fire emojis and heart eyes from celebrities like Kerry Washington and Shonda Rhimes to appreciation posts for Ross for being such a positive representation of Black culture.

“No clouds in this room! ,” wrote one person in the comments of Ross’ Instagram post.