In a recent interview with Essence, the Shazam! actress opened up about how rumors that she was bleaching her skin actually helped her along her journey towards self-acceptance.

"I had to be put in that place in order for me to get as free as I am now," Good said.

For the better part of 2019 and 2020, Good found herself on the receiving end of accusations that she was bleaching her skin. In various photos and interview clips, Goods' skin appeared noticeably lighter than it had in previous years. Soon fans began speculating about the change in her skin tone, with many assuming she intentionally lightened it.

According to Medical News Today, skin bleaching is a cosmetic process designed to lighten the skin that can have harmful consequences depending on the ingredients and how the product is used. In the Black community specifically, there are nuanced associations with self-hate amongst those who try to obtain a lighter skin tone.

But Good assured Essence that this was not the case. She explained that she was initially given a cream by an unlicensed esthetician to target sun damage but that it wound up lightening her overall complexion.

When the speculation began, Good said she felt like she had no recourse for the false narratives that were spreading, noting that she hated what the products did to her skin.

"I was like, 'I look so crazy.' I just have to sit in this, and let people think what they want to think, and there's nothing I can do about it," she said.

Ultimately, Good said the ordeal freed her from constantly seeking public approval in a way she may have never noticed otherwise.

"But I remember when I was praying, I felt a peace come over me, and I was like, 'this is an answer to a prayer,'" she said. "I didn't realize it at the time, but my concern with what other people thought about me was such a thing that I had to go through something like that where I literally had no other option, and I had to find my joy and my peace regardless of what everyone was thinking."