A woman in Georgia is drawing international attention for her persistent tanning habit. Her fixation with bronzing has led many to accuse her of practicing blackface.
She maintains there is no truth to these accusations, insisting she simply likes the way it looks.
Over the past three years, dating back to her teenage days, Savannah Grace has been tanning each night to achieve a brownish-orange hue.
“I love tanning and being outdoors; I tan after workouts, before bed, and in the mornings. I really like how I look when I’m tan,” she told The New York Post.
The 20-year-old with blue eyes and red hair says she often faces harassment on social media, with people telling the nursing assistant to stop. But she says she tunes out the noise and avoids reading the comments.
A TikTok clip that recently racked up more than 3 million views drew a flood of negative reactions toward her.
She disabled the comments on one video.
“She brings a new meaning to blackface,” wrote one user.
“To not delete the video after being called out for blackface is kind of wild,” another commenter said before she removed the feature and archived or erased those clips.
Still, there were followers who found her other videos and offered comments anyway.
“How has no one in your life told you to stop tanning? Holy crap. It’s not good,” one user wrote.
“Not blackface … with not an ounce of remorse or even an attempt to understand how wrong she is?? Throw the whole human out,” another online critic wrote.
Grace continued to post her signature car-based videos, appearing unfazed by the backlash.
“There have been many negative comments, but I do what makes me happy for me, no matter what,” she said in the interview.
While she maintains she acts on her own terms, recent videos show the medical professional appearing several shades lighter.
Although blackface accusations do not seem to be a primary concern for the social media personality, the risk of skin cancer certainly is.
Experts warn that tanning can damage the skin and may increase cancer risk. The intense ultraviolet radiation emitted by tanning beds is actually “more dangerous” than sunlight, according to FamilyDoctor.org, because it involves both UVA and UVB rays, which can harm the skin.
