Salma Hayek isn't down with Barbie's Frida Kahlo doll

"How could they turn her into a Barbie?"
 By 
Shannon Connellan
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Salma Hayek is not here for Barbie's Frida Kahlo doll.

For International Women's Day this year, Barbie celebrated impactful female role models with created 17 realistic-looking dolls, including Kahlo, mathematician Katherine Johnson, and aviator Amelia Earhart.

But Hayek, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as the iconic artist in 1995's Frida, was less than impressed with the representative doll, posting her two cents on Instagram on Sunday.

"Frida Kahlo never tried to be or look like anyone else," wrote Hayek. "She celebrated her uniqueness. How could they turn her into a Barbie?"

Hayek's not the only one questioning the doll, with Kahlo's own family calling for a redesign. According to The New York Times, the artist's great-niece, Mara de Anda Romeo, said Mattel doesn’t own the rights to reproduce Kahlo’s image.

But according to a statement supplied to the Times, the Frida Kahlo Corporation was actually involved with the design process, and that Mattel secured the rights over ten years ago through Kahlo’s niece, Isolda Pinedo Kahlo.

“The Frida Kahlo Corporation actively participated in the process of designing the doll, Mattel has its permission and a legal contract that grants it the rights to make a doll of the great Frida Kahlo,” reads the statement.

"[Mattel] celebrates the ideological contributions of Frida Kahlo which have transcended the borders of art and which will influence new generations as a world icon through the Frida Kahlo Barbie, which conserves the essence of Barbie and the legacy of Frida Kahlo."

Mashable has reached out to Mattel for comment.

Topics Celebrities

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Shannon Connellan
UK Editor

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.

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