Benny Blanco’s ‘Hermoso’ Album Cover Sparks ‘Racist Caricature’ Backlash
Benny Blanco’s latest album, Hermoso, has kicked off significant backlash online. Hermoso, which means beautiful, is a Latin-pop album. Its cover features an image of Blanco with heavily exaggerated features. Some have described it as a racist caricature, as Blanco, whose real name is Benjamin Levin, is not Latino.
The cover of Benny Blanco’s new album ‘Hermoso’ has sparked backlash
Blanco released Hermoso on Aug 14, 2026. The Spanish-language album features a cover in which Blanco plays a caricature of himself. Some have described it as a racist caricature, however, because Blanco is Jewish and grew up in Virginia. His father is reportedly of Jewish and Eastern European descent, and his mother is Jewish with Puerto Rican roots. It’s not clear how far back those roots stretch, though.
Because of his stage name and the Spanish-language album, many people were surprised to learn that Blanco is not Latino.
“This information makes his caricature of an album cover feel kind of offensive,” wrote one Reddit user. “I don’t understand this conceptually.”
“I’m sorry, what?? He’s white, and he thought this was okay??” another person asked. “His whole team thought this was okay?”
Still, a number of people felt that Blanco was playing on the online criticisms of his looks by exaggerating them on the album cover.
Benny Blanco shared why he wanted to make a Spanish-language album
Blanco said that he chose to make a Latin pop album because of his upbringing. He grew up with the genre.
“I grew up in an area with a large Latin population, so that music has surrounded me since I was a child. You’d get in the car, and Jeanette would be playing; in another car, cumbia would be on,” he told El País. “I was always drawn to the drums and how the rhythms interacted with each other. It’s a culture that’s always full of fresh ideas and people who aren’t afraid to go against the grain.”
The album features Neton Vega, Selena Gomez, Becky G, BB Trickz, The Marías, Mora, Ovy On The Drums, and Myke Towers.
