Trans model rehired by L’Oreal years after being fired for speaking out against racism
L’Oreal Paris rehired Munroe Bergdorf three years after firing the model for speaking out against white supremacy, NBC News and other media outlets reported on Tuesday.
The hiring came soon after Bergdorf called out the makeup mogul on Instagram after the company posted a photo in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“You dropped me from a campaign in 2017 and threw me to the wolves for speaking out about racism and white supremacy,” Bergdorf wrote on her Instagram page, posting the photo L’Oreal used. “I said just yesterday that it would only be a matter of time before RACIST AF brands saw a window of PR opportunity to jump on the bandwagon ... I’m disgusted and writing this in floods of tears and shaking.”
The model made history in 2017 when she was hired as the face of L’Oreal U.K., the first transgender model the brand partnered with. She was fired for denouncing racism in a Facebook post after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Honestly I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more,” she wrote, which was reported by the Daily Mail. “Yes ALL white people. 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.”
According to NBC, L’Oreal Paris said that it believed Bergdorf’s comments were “at odds” with its mission to support “diversity and tolerance towards all people irrespective of their race, background, gender and religion,” at the time, so they terminated their accord with the model.
Delphine Viguier, president of L’Oreal Paris, said in a statement posted on Instagram that the company was forming a UK diversity and inclusion advisory board and that Munroe would be a part of it.
“While we both agree today that negative labels should not be used to define all individuals in any group, I understand much better the pain and trauma that were behind Munroe’s words back then and the urgency she felt to speak in defense of the Black community against systemic racism,” Viguier said.
Munroe announced her new partnership with L’Oreal on her Instagram along with her statement.
“It feels good to finally have closure on this matter and I look forward to new beginnings with the L’Oreal team,” she wrote.
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Trans model rehired by L’Oreal years after being fired for speaking out against racism."