Angel Reese has just released her own Barbie Signature doll. The inspiration behind it, as she explained during the launch, was her childhood experience of growing up without dolls that looked like her.
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“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 thanking Cosmopolitan magazine for covering her doll launch.
In that post, she wrote, “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…”
That post also did not escape the attention of Sports Patriot, which highlighted it to further support its argument. Unsurprisingly, the posts have also drawn significant reactions from fans criticizing Reese over what they view as a dishonest claim.
As expected, fans were also quick to point out the contradiction between Reese’s interview comments and her post.
“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.
Some fans even posted photos of older Barbie dolls to further challenge Reese’s claim. Others even 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.
“@Reese10Angel if you didn’t have black Barbie dolls, that’s on your parents. I’m twice your age, and they were plentiful,” commented another.
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.