Coco Jones at the 54th NAACP Image Awards held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 25, 2023 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
<p class="p1">Having worked in Hollywood for over a decade, <strong>Coco Jones</strong> says she&#8217;s finally starting to see a change in its treatment of dark-skinned Black women.</p>
<p class="p1">Fans would consider this to be quite the statement from the 25-year-old. She&#8217;s been very vocal about her struggles dealing with racism in the past. But in a new interview with <a href="https://people.com/coco-jones-grammy-nominations-hollywood-experience-black-women-exclusive-8418905" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PEOPLE</a>, Jones expressed that the industry is providing more opportunities to dark-skinned Black women in comparison to when she was coming up.</p>
<p class="p1">She told the publication,<em><strong> &#8220;I</strong><strong><em> </em>definitely feel like the industry for dark-skinned Black women has gotten better and better, especially since I was a young girl.&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<p class="p1"><em><strong>&#8220;And I think the more storylines and the more positions of power that are told from a woman of color&#8217;s perspective, the more opportunities [there are] for women to play those roles and to hire women that would understand those storylines.&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<h3 class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><b>Coco Jones&#8217; Colorism Concerns</b></h3>
<p class="p1">In 2020, Coco Jones went viral with her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Xn2RVOlcY&;t=45s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube video</a>, &#8216;What Really Happened.&#8217; She revealed the harsh reality of what it&#8217;s like to be a dark-skinned actress in an industry that often favors lighter skin.</p>
<p class="p1">She also opened up on why she felt her career had derailed after landing her big break on Disney Channel.</p>
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<p class="p1">In 2012, Jones starred in the movie &#8216;Let It Shine&#8217; opposite <strong>Tyler James Williams</strong>. The film&#8217;s success opened doors for Jones to feature in the sitcom &#8216;Good Luck Charlie.&#8217;</p>
<p class="p1">However, the &#8216;ICU&#8217; artist revealed in her YouTube video that the industry often sidelined her for roles in favor of lighter-skinned actresses, despite her talent being equal, if not better.</p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>&#8220;What I think was the most, like, traumatic thing about it for me is that, I was like, &#8216;Alright, if I can just let them see my talent, then they&#8217;ll believe in me,'&#8221;</strong> </em>she said.</p></blockquote>
<p class="p1">Executives began to feel like she wasn&#8217;t marketable to their audience, so they decided to drop her from future projects. She said this display of colorism deeply affected her self-esteem and had severe implications for her career growth.</p>
<p class="p1">As a young star under Disney&#8217;s wing, Jones had expected support and protection from discriminatory practices.</p>
<p class="p1">Instead, she claimed to face the reality of colorism within the company as she recalled instances where she felt overlooked for roles because of her skin color.</p>
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<p class="p1"><strong><em>&#8220;But they would really hear me sing, hear me act, see me dance [&#8230;] and because someone looks a little bit more marketable, doesn&#8217;t matter, baby girl. So, that&#8217;s traumatizing as a little kid. You don&#8217;t know how to cope, like, you&#8217;re looking at yourself like, &#8216;What did I do?&#8217;</em></strong></p>
<p class="p1">She used her platform to encourage young girls of color to embrace their beauty and fight against such discrimination, all while jumpstarting a music career.</p>
<p class="p1">Jones went on to release a string of EPs in 2014 that would eventually lead her to sign a record deal with Def Jam Recordings two years later.</p>
<h5 style="text-align: center;"><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/taraji-p-henson-quit-hollywood-equal-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Math Ain&#8217;t Mathing! Watch Taraji P. Henson Speak On Pay Inequality In Emotional Video</a></strong></h5>
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