Grazia apologises after Lupita Nyong'o blasted the magazine for 'smoothing' out her natural locks on its cover

Oscar winner, 34, appears on the cover of the latest issue of Grazia

Shared image of the cover on Instagram, as well as the unedited shot

In original shot her curly ponytail was clearly visible but didn't appear on cover

Lupita said she would never have agreed to change if consulted

In a statement, Grazia said the magazine did not ask for image to be altered

Grazia magazine has apologised to actress Lupita Nyong'o after she took to Instagram to complain that her natural hair had been airbrushed out of the cover image.

The Oscar winner, 34, posted the cover of the fashion bible's latest issue, saying: ' I am disappointed Grazia invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like.'

She also shared the unedited photo in which her curly ponytail is very much visible, and the Twelve Years A Slave star insisted she had not been consulted about any alteration of the image.

'I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture,' she explained.

A spokesperson for Grazia UK told MailOnline that the magazine had not asked for the image to be altered, suggesting the image had already been airbrushed when they received it.

'Grazia is committed to representing diversity throughout its pages and apologises unreservedly to Lupita Nyong’o,' they said.

'Grazia magazine would like to make it clear that at no point did they make any editorial request to the photographer for Lupita Nyong'o’s hair to be altered on this week’s cover, nor did we alter it ourselves. But we apologise unreservedly for not upholding the highest of editorial standards in ensuring that that we were aware of all alterations that had been made.'

Fans of the actress, who was born in Mexico and raised in Kenya, were outraged by the editing of the image, and praised Lupita for speaking out with one saying she was speaking out for all black women.

Others said they couldn't understand why the image had been edited when the original was 'beautiful' - although one argued that the 'after' photo looked better.

'I understand and support your point, as I live it every day as a black woman with natural hair,' she said.

'However, the retouched photo accentuates your stunning African features to their full potential. It simply is a better photo. Full stop. Blame the hair stylist. They gave you an unflattering hairdo.'