Sofia Richie: “People Don’t Really Know That I’m Black”

Sofia Richie has become a legit model these days – she just walked a Chanel show. The celebrity off-spring was also featured on a very revealing Complex cover and spoke to the magazine about her career and encountering racism. Sofia says that often people don’t realise she’s black because she is light:

“I’m very light, so some people don’t really know that I’m black. I’ve been in situations where people will say something kind of racist and I’ll step in and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, well, you’re light.’ That still doesn’t cut it, buddy. It’s 2016—you better get your sh-t together before you get slapped out here.”

She’s struggling to get respect as a model and feels she is being criticized for taking modeling gigs just because she doesn’t have perfect model measurements:

“It’s not like I called and begged these designers to work with me. They felt my vibe and we were cool and that’s that. People obviously don’t respect some of the shoots I do because I’m short and this or that, but I really don’t let that stuff get to me.”

Sofia grew up with the Jenners and Hadids as her close friends and says they all look out for each other:

“We all grew up the same way, so we all kind of had that understanding of everything. Just a looking-out-for-each-other kind of sense—sisters. Everyone’s like Gigi Hadid! And I’m like, ‘Oh, Gigi? Oh.’ I’m really proud of all them, though.”