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Sometimes dreams don't come true, and with the growing prominence of social media, it's not too hard to screw up a good opportunity.
That's something 17-year-old Axelle Despiegelaere had to learn the hard way. (Via Getty Images)
The Belgian teen landed a modeling contract with L'Oreal after pictures of her at a World Cup game went viral. (Via Fox News)
The company even rushed production of this video showing Despiegelaere using its hair care products. But her 15 minutes came to an abrupt end after... (Via L'Oréal Professionnel BELGILUX)
This picture of the new model made the rounds on the Internet. She captioned the photo of her posing next to a dead gazelle, "Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that. ...this was about 1 year ago. ...ready to hunt Americans today haha." (Via Facebook / Axelle Despiegelaere The Belgium Soccer Chick)
FYI — the photo was posted right before Belgium played the United States.
As backlash began to roll in, she quickly apologized. In this screengrab obtained by Business Insider, you can see she wrote, "Hi, i didn't mean to offend anyone... it was a joke. Thanks for understanding."
L’Oréal's handing of the situation came after Aly Weisman, senior editor at Business Insider, tweeted the picture.
She mentioned the cosmetic company in the tweet, asking, "what do you think of this post by your new model... ?" (Via Twitter / @AlyWeisman)
Soon after, Despiegelaere was dropped, and a L'Oréal spokesperson released this statement, "Axelle de Spiegelaere is not one of L'Oréal Professionnel's spokespeople. L'Oréal Professionnel Belgium collaborated with her on an ad hoc basis to produce a video for social media use in Belgium. This has now been produced." (Via BuzzFeed)
"The company isn't saying weather they cut ties with Axelle because of the post, but in the past L'Oréal has been heavily criticized for testing on animals so it's no surprise they would want to distance themselves from her after that photo." (Via Al Jazeera)
So, if you haven't already figured it out — social media is about the fastest way to get yourself dropped like a hot potato. A 2012 study showed 92 percent of employers, mostly in the U.S., look at social networks during the recruiting process. (Via TIME)
If Despiegelaere's story sounds a little familiar — about a week ago a 19-year-old Texas Tech cheerleader posted similar pictures of animals she killed in Africa. That sparked a lot of outrage, including death threats. She eventually took the pictures down. (Via KDFW)
"... and she is trying to rehabilitate her image. Replacing Facebook photos showing her with dead animals with these new images showing her interacting with live ones." (Via CBS)
As far as Despiegelaere, she's deleted her Facebook and hasn't commented on her termination from L'Oreal.
