Never mind that there are some seriously messed up things going on in the world, let’s all focus on something truly significant like the color of Alex Rodriguez’s skin. Pardon my snark, but sometimes I just can’t believe the things that get traction on social media. For example, on Friday night, the former MLB Yankees player went to watch a Timberwolves NBA game. He’s a part-owner of the team, so it’s not huge news that he would be there.
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But, apparently, it is newsworthy that he showed up to the game with his girlfriend Jaclyn Cordeiro and a tan that made his skin look considerably darker than usual. Well, as you know, the internet has no chill and almost instantly the tan went viral via memes. Cue headlines that his tan “wild,” “flashy,” and other such nonsense.
And now here I am talking about his tan, too, because even though I know it’s not important, some of the memes hit hard. Check them out and Alex’s reaction as well.
Comparisons to Ross Geller’s spray tan gone wrong on ‘Friends’ were made.
I love that episode, so I can’t say that I didn’t find the comparison funny. It’s a freakin’ funny episode and Ross ends up looking ridiculous. He looks ridiculous because the actor who portrayed Ross, David Schwimmer is a “white” man and identifies as such.
In case you’re not familiar with the Ross spray tan episode, this netizen did a side by side comparison. It’s not an unfunny comparison, but is it a fair one? I’m not so sure.
Alex Rodriguez, unlike Ross (David Schwimmer) is not a ‘white’ man.
I can’t tell you exactly what he is because I’m not DNA test, but there’s some kind of mix going on.
“You must have forgotten he’s Dominican ,” wrote one person on X (formerly Twitter) in response to the Ross spray tan comparison.
There have also been ‘Tropic Thunder’ comparisons.
In that 2008 movie, Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who gets cast to play a Black character. In order to do so, Kirk has a “pigment alteration” procedure meant to make his skin darker.
‘Seinfeld’ fans also chimed in.
Under a post on X referencing Tropic Thunder, one person simply posted a picture of the character Kramer (Michael Richards) from an episode of Seinfeld where he fell asleep in a tanning bed.
Old-school Kanye was invoked.
This might have been one of my favorite memes as it references the song “Slow Jamz” by Twista that features Kanye West and Jaimie Foxx. “She got a light-skinned friend, look like Michael Jackson. Got a dark-skinned friend, look like Michael Jackson,” Kanye sings on the 2003 track.
Alex accused of getting a ‘reverse Sammy Sosa.’
For context, Sammy Sosa, who is also a former pro baseball player and Dominican American, used to have darker skin that is now noticeably lighter—a lot lighter, actually. The cause?
He has explained that he uses the cream to soften his skin, but that it has bleached his skin. "It's a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some," Sammy explained on an episode of Primer Impacto.
What’s Alex got to say about all the memes regarding his darker complexion?
He saw memes, he saw the comments, and this is how he responded:
"Alright everybody, I know that I’m dark, but I am Dominican and I went on vacation and I fell asleep in the sun. So everybody calm down, tranquilito y suavecito, mi gente, ya."
And for those who don’t believe him.
We’ve seen him tan before. Remember when he went to visit his ex Jennifer Lopez in the Dominican Republic where she was filming a movie back in 2021 right before they broke up? He got pretty tan on that visit, too.
