Model Munroe Bergdorf made headlines earlier this week when she was announced as the first trans woman to be front and center of a L’Oréal UK campaign calling for diversity.

The celebration was short lived after a Facebook post the London-based model wrote after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia resurfaced calling out white people for being complicit in racism and white supremacy.

White supremacists from various groups came to Charlottesville to defend white heritage and protest the planned removal of a Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue. The mid-August weekend was marked by violent unrest. 

In an article from The Daily Mail, the text from the now-deleted post appeared. The controversial post stated in short that "white people are the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth" and every white person benefits from that systematic oppression. Here is the rest of her statements: 

"Because most of ya'll don't even realize or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of color. Your entire existence is drenched in racism. From micro-aggressions to terrorism, you guys built the blueprint for this s***.

"Come see me when you realize that racism isn't learned, it's inherited and consciously or unconsciously passed down through privilege.

"Once white people begin to admit that their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth…then we can talk.

"Until then stay acting shocked about how the world continues to stay f***** at the hands of your ancestors and your heads that remain buried in the sand with hands over your ears."

Instantly, the backlash from those claiming she was racist towards white people reached L'Oreal. And on Friday, the makeup and beauty company decided to end the innovative campaign via Twitter.

The company removed all of its promos featuring Bergdorf off of its social media sites as well. 

When I was growing up, transgender women – especially transgender women of colour had next to zero positive representation in the media and there was almost no information or understanding about us. If we were portrayed on television or in films, it was solely in tragic storylines or with our gender as the punchline of a joke. As an 8 year old, I remember watching the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, starring comedian Jim Carey, at a classmates house after school. Sorry to ruin the ending if you haven't seen it (don't bother), it ends in the movie's villain being caught, stripped to her underwear and exposed as in fact 'a man'. Then to add insult to injury, everyone in the room starts vomiting as they have all engaged in sex with her. This film was given a PG certificate. Imagine being eight years old, knowing that you're transgender but not having the language to verbalise it and then seeing a scene like this including a trans person, played by a cis woman – it may see trivial to some but I carried that 'punchline' throughout my adolescence, it made me feel guilty and confused about who I truly was, so I pushed my true self into my subconscious and tried to be someone I was not. Fast forward two decades and I am so proud to be doing my bit for transgender visibility in the media. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a perfect person, but none of us are. However, I'm a whole person, with flaws, aspirations and interests. I'm often referred to a role model for the community, which annoys me because none of us need to be compared to each other. But I'm definitely down to be considered as a role option if anyone does see themselves in me or my story. Thank you L'Oréal for giving me this platform, I hope it reaches another little 8 year old trans girl and makes her feel a little more hopefull and a little less scared about her future, than what was installed in me when I was her age. The world is changing and I like how the world is changing. Because we are ALL worth it. #allworthit #yourstruly @lorealmakeup.

A post shared by Munroe Bergdorf (@munroebergdorf) on

Despite the partnership ending, Bergdorf took to Facebook to clear up misconceptions about her deleted post. In fact, she added context to the original post including a brief history of colonialism and imperialism that contributed to the current state of white supremacy. 


Twitter users were also quick to point out how L'Oreal's treatment of Bergdorf shows they were not truly committed to diversity and hearing how racism affects people of color.

Blavity has reached out to Bergdorf for further comment on the issue. She has yet to respond to our request as of this report.

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