An image of an American model, Nyakim Gatwech, who is of Sudanese descent, is viral with false claims that she has entered the Guinness World Records for her strikingly dark skin tone. In a tweet on April 27 this year, the official handle of the Guinness World Records rubbished the claims and stated that there is no such category which rates people on their skin tone.
The image, which shows Gatwech posing for what appears to be a photo-shoot, is doing the rounds with the caption, "Sudanese model, Nyakim, enters Guinness book of records for having the darkest skin tone on Earth."
Gatwech, who is originally from Ethiopia, is known for her naturally dark skin colour and has been a strong voice against reservations towards the darker skin tone in the fashion industry through her Instagram posts.
One such viral post of Gatwech entering the Guinness Records is archived here.
Images of Gatwech with narratives claiming that she has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the 'darkest woman alive' were viral on Facebook pages since April.
The post is archived here.
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a relevant keyword search and found that there is no such record category that has been announced by the Guinness World Records.
In a tweet in April, the Guinness World Records' official handle stated that they do not monitor records for skin tone.
🚨 Fake news alert 🚨
— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) April 27, 2020
Guinness World Records does not monitor records for skin tone. https://t.co/lS17sUJdWm
The handle, @iChopTweets further clarified and tweeted a conversation between Gatwech and him where the former also denied having received any such update from the Guinness World Records team.
I spoke to her too and couldn't confirm the record. Apologies for the wrong information, nevertheless she deserves all the recognition. pic.twitter.com/yGQiIhJayx
— The DRS ™ (@iChopTweets) April 27, 2020
In April, 2020, Standard Media, a Kenyan website further received a reply from Jessica Spillane, spokesperson of Guinness World Records stating that the World Records does not monitor records for skin tone.
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