Transgender model Munroe Bergdorf to be the new face of Illamasqua after L’Oreal row
Transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf is fronting a new cosmetics campaign.
The 29-year-old previously slammed L’Oréal for firing her after she made comments on Facebook about white privilege.
She later went on to call on her followers to boycott the company, despite them having made her their first trans model.
The company stated that they fired her over a Facebook post which Bergdorf had written in which she condemned the rise of white supremacy.
In the post, the 29-year-old wrote that all she did not have the “energy” to keep discussing “the racial violence of white people anymore. “Yes ALL white people.”
The post was weeks old and written in response to the Charlottesville violence that saw one person killed and many more injured as far right demonstrators from the KKK and other white supremacist groups clashed with counter-protesters.
Bergdorf subsequently gained global attention for her firing and comments about race, using her position to extensively criticise L’Oréal.
She has now been announced as the face of Illamasqua cosmetics.
She wrote on Instagram: “Excited to announce that I’m one of the faces of the next @illamasqua campaign. #illamafia”
Illamasqua had defended the trans model during the L’Oreal row.
The company said: “As a longstanding Illamasqua collaborator, we are angered to hear that Munroe Bergdorf has been dropped from the L’Oreal True Match Campaign,” the brand wrote on their Twitter.
“Illamasqua is a brand that stands proudly and unashamedly for diversity and equality.
‘We don’t stand or accept any form of racism, but we also believe Munroe’s comments have been edited out of context by a certain media title (who we won’t bother naming) without telling a true story.
“In order for our generation to move forward and create a more inclusive society, it’s not just about showing diversity.
“We must all be free to talk about social issues in a constructive and tolerant way.”
