Pantone’s ‘Color of the Year’ 2026 controversy reappears in unlikely place

Months after Pantone’s 2026 “Color of the Year” selection sparked backlash across arts publications, the decision continues to circulate in unexpected ways.

Amanda Knox, the American writer and public speaker who was acquitted after she was wrongfully convicted in Italy in the 2007 killing of Meredith Kercher, referenced Pantone’s selection in a post made to Instagram.

“I'm sorry y'all. This is just what color I am. Pantone 11-4201,” Knox captioned a photo in which she puts on sunscreen while at the beach.

Pantone, a color standards company best known for its proprietary color-matching system, announces at the end of each year a color selected for the following year that the company says reflects broader cultural and aesthetic trends.

For 2026, Pantone selected the white shade “Cloud Dancer,” which is indexed by the company as Pantone 11-4201.

“After the year we’ve had, going with Cloud Dancer can easily be interpreted as a piercing dog whistle,” Rhea Nayyar wrote for Hyperallergic after the selection.

“In today's polarized sociopolitical climate, this selection offers disengagement at best and channels rage-bait at worst.”

The controversy on the selection was so widespread that it was covered by The Guardian and Forbes to NBC’s The Today Show.

At the time the selection of Cloud Dancer was announced, Pantone Color Institute vice president Laurie Pressman told Vogue the choice was about “encouraging you to use your imagination” and to see the color “in a way that suits who you are and how you want others to see you and how you want to feel.”

“This suggests whiteness as a baseline—the color, if it is indeed a color, to which everyone must compare themselves,” Alex Greenberger wrote for Art News.

Greenberger referenced recent decisions by President Donald Trump including executive orders targeting government-funded Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

“In an era of high stakes and higher tension, one wishes Pantone went in a more sensitive direction," he wrote.

Others online also called it “interesting timing” for the first-ever selection of a shade of white for “Color of the Year.” Some joked it was a “recession indicator.”

Knox did not specifically reference the earlier backlash to Cloud Dancer in her post, which remains live on her account. Pantone has not commented publicly on the Instagram post, and the company has continued to promote Cloud Dancer in its 2026 trend materials.

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