Transgender model Munroe Bergdorf made history earlier this week when it was announced that she would be the face of a L’Oréal UK campaign. But after attention was called to her Facebook post on racism following the events in Charlottesville, Va., the cosmetics corporation decided to let her go.
UK media outlet Daily Mail published Bergdorf’s Facebook post in which the model said white people must “admit their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth.”
“Honestly I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people,” Bergdorf wrote in the post. “Because most of ya’ll don’t even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour. Your entire existence is drenched in racism. From micro-aggressions to terrorism, you guys built the blueprint for this s***.”
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Following backlash, L’Oréal removed a promotional video for Bergdorf’s campaign, which focused on diversity, from its official YouTube page and tweeted out that it had ended its partnership with the model.
In a statement emailed to NBC News, the company said Bergdorf’s statements were at odds with its values.
“L’Oréal supports diversity and tolerance towards all people irrespective of their race, background, gender and religion,” the statement read. “We believe that the recent comments by L’Oréal Paris UK Spokesperson Munroe Bergdorf are at odds with those values, and as such we have taken the decision to end the partnership with her.”
Bergdorf has since spoken out about parting ways with the company, saying in a Facebook post that her words were taken out of context and that she was disappointed in L’Oréal’s response.
“If L’Oreal truly wants to offer empowerment to underrepresented women, then they need to acknowledge THE REASON why these women are underrepresented within the industry in the first place,” Bergdorf wrote. “This reason is discrimination – an action which punches down from a place of social privilege. We need to talk about why women of colour were and still are discriminated against within the industry, not just see them as a source of revenue.”
In a separate Facebook post, Bergdorf urged people to boycott L’Oréal Paris.
Reaction on social media was mixed: While some tweeted in support of Bergdorf and included the hashtag #BoycottLoreal, others agreed with L’Oreal’s handling of the situation.
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