Meet Burkina Faso’s Long Legged Maryse Kye Who Was Caught In The Big Lip Controversy

During New York Fashion Week on Wednesday, cosmetics brand Mac posted a close-up picture to Instagram of an African-American runway model’s lips, intending to showcase the brand’s lipstick. Some racists began to unleash offensive comments, however, many dropped a lot of compliments and had her going viral online.

The model, 19 year-old Maryse Kye, responded to both the critical and supportive comments in a now-deleted Instagram post Thursday. “As I read the comments below this picture Felt so insecure and a bit embarrassed as I just wrapped up fashion week a time period that is tough on models especially black models as we encounter the harsh reality of the fashion world,” she said. “But I kept reading (not sure why tbh) and saw so much love and support from strangers that made me smile :).”