When in the public eye, the ability to laugh at yourself is a valuable asset and Taraji P. Henson has seemingly honed the skill according to her most recent post on the web. It was in an Instagram post that the actress and Empire star uploaded a selfie of herself that easily bore resemblance to the late King of Pop Michael Jackson as the combination of a wet and wavy look and bright lighting made for an optical illusion.
“Uuuuuuummmmmm kinda Trippy NO? Hair and make up is something huh? I think it’s the lighting,” Henson wrote in the caption. “If not I was supposed to be the 6th of the 5,” she added, making reference to the Jackson 5.
Henson’s makeup artist, Ashunta Sheriff, would later confirm that the lighting was to blame for the strong resemblance after she caught most of the heat for what seemed to be a hair and makeup faux pas.
“Lighting makes a major difference in how your makeup appears,” wrote Sheriff. “Taraji has a yellow undertone and in her trailer the lights are fluorescent. Where as in the #makeuptrailer the lights are natural light bulbs. Anyone who is a pro knows that fluorescent lighting will turn your skin tone green and make you appear ashy.”
Naturally, the web’s most notorious troll couldn’t help but add his two, or rather fifty cents, to the mix as Curtis Jackson deemed it necessary to get to the bottom of the photo.
“what the fuck is going on cookie,” 50 Cent penned in a brief roast. “LOL 🤨get the strap #lecheminduroi.”
It isn’t the first time Taraji P. Henson and Michael Jackson have gotten mixed up, hilariously enough. Earlier in the year she decided to channel the legend during an appearance on the Lip Sync Battle competition show. When a photo taken backstage was uploaded to film database IMDB, Henson was labeled as Michael Jackson.