Model and activist, Munroe Bergdorf, who was hired and then fired as the first trans representative of L’Oréal Paris has called them out for their hypocrisy following social media posts supporting black solidarity.

As people across the world marched or shared messages online in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter following the brutal killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, L’Oréal Paris posted their own message. On a black background in white writing, their statement reads “Speaking out is worth it”. Underneath the image it reads, “L’Oréal Paris stands in solidarity with the Black community, and against injustice of any kind.”

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Munroe Bergdorf responded on her own social media page, commenting on the hypocrisy of the brand in relation to how she herself was treated when she spoke out about racism.

Bergdorf had been hired as the first trans representative of the brand in 2017, however, in a little over a week, they fired her. Bergdorf had shared social media posts decrying systematic racism in the wake of the neo-Nazi and white supremacist rally – Unite the Right – in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Her post read in reference to white people, “most of ya’ll don’t even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour.” It continued, “racism isn’t learned, it’s inherited and consciously or unconsciously passed down through privilege.”

As Bergdorf was let go by the brand following her posts, she is now furious they have shared a message saying “speaking out is worth it.”

In reponse, Bergdorf posted, “You dropped me from a campaign in 2017 and threw me to the wolves for speaking out about racism and white supremacy. With no duty of care, without a second thought. I had to fend for myself being torn apart by the world’s press because you didn’t want to talk about racism. You even tried to get me to incriminate myself with pairing me up with your shady lawyers, when I had done nothing wrong. That is what you get for ‘speaking out'”.

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The post continued, “Fuck your ‘solidarity’. Where was my support when I spoke out? Where was my apology? I’m disgusted and writing this in floods of tears and shaking. This is gaslighting.”

L’Oréal Paris have yet to respond.