Viola Davis Admits Stylists Do Not Know What To Do With Her Hair

I have always wondered what it is like for celebrity women who choose to wear their fro’s predominantly in their daily lives or even out and about on the scene.

After watching the TODAY debacle with a stylist who should have had some experience styling hair in the limelight, it seems as if things are a bit grim in Hollywood for natural hair.

As if I needed any confirmation of my thoughts, Viola Davis had this same conversation when she visited Late night with Stephen Colbert earlier this week.

She was there to discuss a series she was producing called American Coco, which is about an agency that solves “sticky racial situations.”

This, of course, lead to a discussion of just what she meant by ‘sticky racial situations” and Viola broke it down saying it was moments of racial discrimination or moments of racism that happen due to lack of understanding between people.

To break it down even further she described an experience where she wore her afro out during a movie she was filming and the stylist she had did not have a clue about how to take care of her hair.

“I was doing a movie and I was doing it with my ‘fro, and this Caucasian woman had her fingers in my hair. She said, ‘I’m going to make it really pretty!’ So she put some White goo in it and I wanted to say something.”

When asked to clarify what she meant when speaking on the “white goo,” Davis clarified, “Goo only White people would use.”

She continued: “She put that and then she took a big spray bottle filled with water and just started spraying my fro with it. With the goo in the hair. I wanted to say, ‘This is not going to work.’ But I knew if I said it that I would be insulting her. So then I went to the set and slowly the sun caught my hair and my whole fro turned white.”

She went on to explain to Colbert that she could not ignore it she had to have that uncomfortable conversation about black hair and what absolutely does not work for it.

“Because then you gotta talk about hair and then you gotta say, ‘You don’t know what to do with my hair!’ But you can’t say that because then you’d be insulting.” While she didn’t politely school the stylist, she did offer Colbert this lesson in how ‘fros work.

“By the way, if you put water on a ‘fro, if it’s this big, it’s will become this big. It shrinks!” To which Colbert replied, “The fro shrinks? Is the water cold? Does that make it shrink even more?”

Watch the conversation for yourself (skip to 6.30):

We can definitely appreciate the light banter on the subject, but all jokes aside I think I have some really great suggestions that could solve this problem.

I hate to think that because you are black you always have to travel with your own stylist and your own products but if we are really trying to give this whole investing in the black experience a shot then why not.

With that said here are 5 things a celebrity can do when she wants to rock her natural hair on the set of a movie.

1. Give a natural hair stylist a shot

There are so many talented stylists on Instagram and Youtube, and I know that celebs cruise the same social media channels we do or at least they have people that can find a woman or man who needs a shot at styling celebrity hair.

2. Bring your own products

I do not think it is unrealistic at all for a celeb to have her staples in her trailer, so if skittles are your thing, then why not have your favorite brand of hair products as well.

Viola should have never made that lady squeeze any white goo in her hair, I was like, girl you know better!

3. Demand respect with regards to the people that service you

I believe in the trickle down effect and if a celebrity is demanding that her stylist knows how to style her natural hair as well as do some weave* then it will force the industry to pay more attention. I think it is just as important for a white stylist to be familiar with all textures of hair as a black stylist is.

If a black stylist attends hair school she needs to learn how to take care of caucasian hair as well as black hair if she wants to work in the black community. The same should be for a white stylist even if he or she does not have to care for black hair all the time.

4. Wear your natural hair

There is this idea in Hollywood that you have to keep your natural hair protected from constant styling, and believe me I get it, but part of me thinks it’s because of the lack of styling diversity as well.

When black women demand that their people know how to care for their real hair and keep it healthy things will change in the industry. Weaves* and wigs* can be a crutch for the stylist as well!

At the end of the day, I know a celebrity has to do what makes sense for them, but I do think if they have natural hair and they demand more, people will start to pay attention.

Comment below and let us know how you feel about the Viola Davis story and what would you have suggested.