Model Munroe Bergdorf Faces Transphobic And Racist Backlash After Joining L’Oreal Diversity Board
Days after transgender model Munroe Bergdorf announced she joined L’Oreal’s United Kingdom diversity board, she has received racist and transphobic comments.
On Wednesday (June 10), the 32-year-old took to Instagram and spoke out about the onslaught of hateful words she’s received, adding that the comments always increase “every time something positive happens in my career.”
“They can’t stand it. It isn’t as simple as speaking up," Bergdorf wrote. “It comes with a cost to our mental health and physical safety.”
She continued: “But I refuse to let sad little boys who get their kicks from harassing other human beings on the internet, take this moment from me again. If your identity requires making other people feel small to make you feel powerful, you have bigger concerns than me.”
In 2017, Bergdorf was fired by the cosmetics brand after writing a Facebook post that called out systematic racism. After announcing she had rejoined the company, the verbal backlash escalated.
“White folk — Please bear in mind that this is what many black activists and trans activists’ inboxes look like,” she concluded. “This is why we need you to be doing the work also. This is why allyship is a necessary component of anti-racist work.”
The New York Daily News reports that on Tuesday, Delphine Viguier, L’Oreal Paris’ brand president, said Bergdorf had agreed to serve as a consultant after an “honest, transparent and vulnerable” conversation.
See Munroe Bergdorf’s Instagram post here.
