In fashion, one day you’re out and the next you’re in.
Multiracial, transgender model Munroe Bergdorf, who in 2017 notoriously trashed her former employer L’Oreal after it fired her for railing against its goal of diversity, has been rehired.
Just weeks after L’Oreal U.K. hired Bergdorf as its first transgender model, she was given the boot when a news agency published one of her Facebook posts denouncing racism after the fatal Charlottesville, Va., Unite the Right rally, reported NBC News.
“You dropped me from a campaign in 2017 and threw me to the wolves for speaking about racism and white supremacy,” wrote the British-born Bergdorf in a June 2 Instagram post. “I said just yesterday that it would only be a matter of time before (very racist) brands saw a window of (public relations) opportunity to jump on the bandwagon. . . . I’m disgusted and writing this in floods of tears and shaking.”
In the post, she insisted that white people must “admit their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth.”
After her firing, Bergdorf called on a boycott of the cosmetics company, asserting that its existence was “drenched in racism.”
Amid a resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests, L’Oreal announced that not only was it creating an inclusion advisory board, but that Bergdorf would serve as an advisor.
“L’Oreal Paris stands in solidarity with the Black community, and against injustice of any kind,” the company said in a statement. “We are making a commitment to the NAACP to support progress in the fight for justice.”
Now, Bergdorf hopes the reconciliation can be conducive to people of all races and a range of sexual identities.
“Over the past three years I realized my responsibility as an activist is to help us unite as people, regardless of our identity,” said the model last week.