Hijab model steps down from L’Oreal hair campaign over tweets about Israel
Last week beauty company L’Oreal Paris made headlines for casting a hijab-wearing model in one of its haircare campaigns. The move was described as inclusive and a world first.
“Whether or not your hair’s on display doesn’t affect how much you care about it,” British vlogger Amena Khan said in the commercial, which was shot by British portrait photographer Rankin.
But a week later, Khan says she “decided to step down from this campaign” over tweets from 2014 about the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Khan said she chose to delete the tweets, saying: “they do not represent the message of harmony that I stand for”. The tweets called Israel “an illegal state”, and that one of the tweets also contained the hashtags #HopeForGaza #SaveGaza.
One tweet, directed to Channel 4 presenter Jon Snow, said: “Your Children of Gaza piece was incredibly moving. Israel is a sinister state and the one who suffer most are innocent children,” The Telegraph reported.
“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 in an Instagram post. “I recently took part in a campaign, which excited me because it celebrated inclusivity. With deep regret I’ve decided to step down from this campaign because the current conversations surrounding it detract from the positive and inclusive sentiment that it set out to deliver.”
It is not yet known whether the commercial will be edited or reshot to remove her.
A spokeswoman for L’Oreal Paris said the company agreed with Khan’s decision to step down: “We have recently been made aware of a series of tweets posted in 2014 by Amena Khan, who was featured in a UK advertising campaign ... we appreciate that Amena has since apologised for the content of these tweets [and] we agree with her decision to step down.”