Mattel released the Angel Reese Signature doll during the All-Star Weekend last month. The inspiration behind it, as she explained during the launch, was her childhood experience of growing up without dolls that looked like her

“Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of dolls, because I didn’t have dolls that really looked like me much. That’s why I kind of really wanted to make sure this was super intentional…” Reese said during a promotional press conference. Reese’s claim, however, has met with significant pushback from those who believe the statement was historically inaccurate.

Sports Patriot on X published a detailed post, pointing out that Black Barbie dolls have been in circulation since the 80s. In 1998, four years before Reese was even born, Mattel, the very same company she partnered with to produce her own doll, was already selling Black basketball-playing Barbie dolls in NBA uniforms.

Angel Reese also appeared to contradict herself after making a separate post on July 30, thanking Cosmopolitan magazine for covering her doll launch, where she said that she had grown up playing with Barbie dolls.

“Thank you @cosmopolitan for allowing me to express this full circle moment! From playing with Barbie dolls as a little girl to having my own-wearing my signature Reebok shoes. Getting to put that doll in little girls’ hands [at] All-Star weekend, share that moment with the Boys & Girls Club, and watch their faces light up, that’s the dream. I can’t wait to see all of you with your Angel Barbie Dolls.”

However, for Angel Reese, getting a signature Barbie wasn’t the only highlight. The collaboration with Reebok meant that Reese’s Barbie would also wear her new signature Reebok sneakers, the Angel Reese 1: Barbie.

So, on the day of her Barbie, Reebok announced that the Angel Reese 1: Barbie would officially launch on August 3. The Atlanta Dream forward took to social media on August 3 to post about the launch.

However, despite the 24-year-old reaching multiple off-court milestones, what she said during the press conference and her X post drew significant reactions from fans who criticized her for what they view as two statements that don’t really line up.

Fans pick apart Angel Reese’s claims

“So she said she never played with Barbies because they didn’t look like her, but now that she has a Barbie doll… She sounds very confused,” one fan wrote.

Another fan, also calling out the contradiction, asked, “Didn’t she say she never had or played with Barbie dolls because there was none that matched her skin color? Which is which?”

“Angel Reese said she never had Barbies that looked like her. Meanwhile Black Basketball Barbie was already dropping ankle-breakers in 1998, four years before she was even born…” one fan wrote.

“I remember when she said that and questioned her new statement because of it,” wrote another.

The other big fact check fans posted about was Angel Reese claiming she couldn’t find a Black Barbie when she was a child.

“@Reese10Angel if you didn’t have black Barbie dolls, that’s on your parents. I’m twice your age, and they were plentiful,” commented one fan.

Some fans simply posted photos of older Barbie dolls to challenge Reese’s claim, while others pointed to Barbie’s friend Christie. Mattel introduced Christie in 1968, marking the first Black doll in the broader Barbie circle with her own face mold.

However, it wasn’t until 1980 that Mattel officially introduced the first Black Barbie doll to the world, which was designed by Kitty Black Perkins. Since then, the original doll has evolved into multiple variants with unique face molds and body types. Naturally, some users even recalled their experience of having the doll.

Overall, while Angel Reese intended for her Barbie Signature doll to be a symbol of representation and inspire young girls, her comments about not having dolls that looked like her growing up have instead sparked a heated online debate.