Hair-covering Muslim model for L’Oreal HAIR ads steps down over antisemitic tweets

The mistake L’Oreal made was choosing Amena Khan, a hair-covered hijabed anti-semite, to represent hair products. Surely that will serve as a textbook case of  PR blunders. That said,  L’Oreal did the right thing in removing her.  L’Oreal has an ugly history of antisemitism. People were outraged at their choice. I applaud all those of you who called them out.  It was incumbent upon them to do the right thing. Not to mention a hair covered model for a hair ad is the height of submission and stupidity.

It was an awful mistake but L’Oreal corrected it.

Hardly surprising that @Loreal @LOrealParisUSA @LOrealUSA chose an antisemitic hair-covered hijabi for a hair ad considering their past. https://t.co/3YCnzZISIV pic.twitter.com/04f67F5TFV

— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) January 21, 2018

Revlon, on the other hand, made a similar mistake (actually worse) but is still hiding under their desks.Thei r vocal antisemite refused to receive a Revlon beauty award  from a Jew (international film star Gal Dadot). Interesting, considering Revlon chairman Ronald Perlman considers himself a proud Jew. Shame on him. It’s not enough to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk, Ron.

L’Oreal model steps down after anti-Israel tweets uncovered

By Amy Spiro, Jerusalem Post, January 22, 2018 16:49

Woman who rejected Revlon award over Gal Gadot also deletes Twitter posts.

“I deeply regret the content of the tweets I made in 2014, and sincerely apologise for the upset and hurt that they have caused,” she wrote. “Championing diversity is one of my passions, I don’t discriminate against anyone. I have chosen to delete them as they do not represent the message of harmony that I stand for.”

Khan said she has chosen to step down from the L’Oréal campaign “because the current conversations surrounding it detract from the positive and inclusive sentiment that it set out to deliver.”

In response to a request for comment, L’Oreal told The Jerusalem Post that it had “recently been made aware” of Khan’s tweets. “We appreciate that Amena has since apologized for the content of these tweets and the offence they have caused,” said a representative for the company. “L’Oréal Paris is committed to tolerance and respect towards all people. We agree with her decision to step down from the campaign.”

Khan was unveiled just last week as one of the new faces in an ad campaign for hair care products, where she appeared wearing her hijab.

“Whether or not your hair is on display doesn’t affect how much you care about it,” said the beauty blogger from Leicester, England. But after the international attention brought by the groundbreaking ad, Khan found herself hastily deleting several tweets that used harsh language relating to Israel.

In the deleted messages, captured by screenshots and tweet-saving services, Khan called Israel a “sinister state,” an “illegal state” and said the country is full of “child murderers” and hoped defeat for it would be coming. In other posts on social media that had not been deleted, Khan accused Israel of “Torture. Murder. Rape. Genocide” and falsely claimed that “Orthodox Jews themselves condemn the actions of Israel.”

Khan has participated in L’Oreal campaigns since late 2016, when she was part of an advertisement for foundation. There is no little amount of irony involved in her cooperation with L’Oreal, which has operated a factory in Migdal Ha’emek for decades. The company has faced many boycott calls over the years from BDS supporters over its extensive business ties with Israel.

Last week, beauty competitor Revlon also faced controversy after it offered a “changemaker” award to a Muslim activist who rejected the recognition over the involvement of Gal Gadot.

Amani al-Khatahtbeh, a writer and the founder of MuslimGirl.com, said last week that she could not accept the recognition “with Gal Gadot as the ambassador.” She added that Gadot’s “vocal support of the Israeli Defense Forces’ actions in Palestine goes against MuslimGirl.com’s morals and values.”

Gadot, the Israeli star of the hit Wonder Woman film, was recently announced as the new face of Revlon’s “Live Boldly” campaign.

Khatahtbeh, as well, has a series of social media posts – both now-deleted and those remaining – that attack the State of Israel.

In one deleted tweet, preserved by Google cache, she wrote that “Zionism uses Jews as human shields.” In non-deleted posts, Khatahtbeh called the IDF “terrorist” and compared Israel to ISIS, writing: “Muslims protested #Israel’s human rights violations, and now they’re protesting #ISIS’s too.

Revlon did not respond to multiple requests for comment.