L’Oréal Paris dropped its first transgender model after she made controversial comments about institutional racism.
“L’Oréal champions diversity. Comments by Munroe Bergdorf are at odds with our values and so we have decided to end our partnership with her,” the company said on Twitter.
The Daily Mail reported that Munroe Bergdorf, a 29-year-old model from London with Jamaican heritage, had made comments on Facebook about racism, though the comments do not appear on her page.
“Honestly I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people,” she reportedly said. “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… Come see me when you realise that racism isn’t learned, it’s inherited and consciously or unconsciously passed down through privilege.”
Bergdorf has since said on Facebook that the remarks were taken out of context and that she was specifically speaking about the violence out of Charlottesville.
“When I stated that ‘all white people are racist’, I was addressing that fact that western society as a whole, is a system rooted in white supremacy – designed to benefit, prioritise and protect white people before anyone of any other race,” she said.
Some supporters have applauded Bergdorf for her stance.
L'Oréal is hereby cancelled.
Munroe Bergdorf spoke openly about the TRUTH that white supremacy underpins our society. You're all pussios. https://t.co/u21ZjgwGyv— Kelechi (@kelechnekoff) September 1, 2017
Munroe Bergdorf dropped from L'Oreal's 'diversity' campaign for speaking out on racism. You can't make this shit up.
— Jen Allison (@MsJenAllison) September 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/EnClaudeNeuf/status/903584067924439041
This is not the first time Bergdorf had spoken openly about racism. In an Instagram post from earlier this summer she wrote:
“We live in a society built to covertly uphold white supremacy and maintain whiteness as the majority in positions of power, perpetuate western beauty ideals, whitewash history and gatekeep opportunities and housing. This is NOT equality. If you are white and not actively and conciously working to dismantle white supremacy, then you are part of the problem.”