When the color experts at Pantone announced Cloud Dancer as their 2026 Color of the Year , they predicted the shade would inspire a kind of cool calm.

But the choice of Cloud Dancer, which Pantone described as a “billowy” white, has instead sparked heated controversy.

People online have blasted the shade for being “bleak” and “boring” and possibly not a color at all. After hearing the description of the color read during TODAY’s Dec. 4 unveiling, Al Roker retorted “otherwise known as white.”

Others have denounced Cloud Dancer as tone deaf and “white washing,” expressing other controversial takes.

Cloud Dancer is described by Pantone as a “billowy, balanced white imbued with a feeling of serenity.” Courtesy of The Development / Pantone

Read on to learn all about the controversy o

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