Amena Khan, a blogger and model, has stepped down from her campaign with L’Oréal. The campaign - promoting female freedom and racial/ethnic diversity- was perhaps best summed up by Khan’s following statement: “whether or not your hair is on display, it doesn’t affect how much you care about it.” After users dug into Khan’s Twitter account, they found out that she had once (in 2014) published tweets containing anti-Israeli statements; upon this discovery, Khan was bombarded with backlash on twitter.

The backlash was met by an apology on Instagram from Khan: “I recently took part in a campaign, which excited me because it celebrated inclusivity. With deep regret, I have 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.”

The campaign is not Khan’s first of its kind with L’Oréal. Indeed, Khan had previously been included in L’Oréal’s 2016 cosmetics campaign. What mustered further backlash against Khan was the fact that the conglomerate has had a factory located in Megdal Ha’emek, Israel, for decades; in other words, Khan either knew what she was signing up for, or was simply unaware of the existence of this factory. According to the Jerusalem Post, the business’s operation in Israel has made the brand a target for several boycott campaigns, initiated by those who carry anti-Israeli sentiments.

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By Adel M. Fakhry

Photo from Khan's Blog