L’Oreal Fires First Transgender Model, Munroe Bergdorf, After Rant Claiming “All White People Are Racist”
Just three days after they made history by hiring their first transgender model, L’Oreal has canned Munroe Bergdorf after what they call a “racist” Facebook rant.
According to Fortune, just a few days ago beauty giant L’Oreal UK launched a campaign titled YoursTruly True Match to promote diversity. One of the models that they hired, Munroe Bergdorf, made history by becoming the first transgender model that has been hired by the company.
An honored Bergdorf took to her Facebook page on August 27 to tell fans what this new job meant to her.
“So I’m the first transgender woman to feature in a L’Oreal UK campaign… I got to say the famous lines! SO gassed! Thank you to all who support me and to all my sisters who have come before me… #AllWorthIt #YoursTruly @lorealmakeup.”
But almost just as soon as she was hired, she was let go by L’Oreal after they caught wind of a “racist” rant that had been posted to Bergdorf’s Facebook following the tragic events in Charlottesville.
“Honestly I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people,” the model said 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***,” the post continued.
BLK PNTHR // @saraldn @missguided @pxssypalace
A post shared by Munroe Bergdorf (@munroebergdorf) on
The Daily Mail featured Bergdorf’s rant in an article, and that’s when the backlash began. Over the next day, L’Oreal was on damage control and deleted Munroe’s promotional video from their YouTube page. Not only that, but they also took to Twitter to announce the firing of the model.
“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 post received mixed reviews from loyal L’Oreal followers, with some siding with the beauty giant and others siding with the transgender model.
“How can you claim to champion diversity and then fire her for speaking out against systemic racism?” one user wrote.
“Racist comments make me sick regardless of who you are. Thank you L’Oréal for taking action against this and for always supporting diversity,” another Twitter user chimed in.
After L’Oreal’s statement, Munroe fired back on her own Facebook page, calling out her former employer for “discrimination.” Her original rant posted to Facebook has since been deleted from her account.
A post shared by Munroe Bergdorf (@munroebergdorf) on
“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,” she 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,” the post continued.
In her next post, the model urged her followers to boycott L’Oreal while expressing her displeasure for her words being taken “out of context.” Bergdorf claimed that she was addressing the fact that western society as a whole is rooted in white supremacy and that it’s designed to protect white people before any other race.
In addition to her controversial Facebook post, Munroe also shared an Instagram video of President Trump’s words following the Charlottesville tragedy on August 15. In the caption, she said she was “speechless,” stating that things have gone from “bad to worse.”
Do you think that L’Oreal was right to fire Munroe or do you think that the company is being hypocritical? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.
[Featured Image by Jacques Brinon/AP Images]
