L’Oreal Paris recently made history when it featured model Amena Khan in its new hair product campaign, but when tweets she penned in 2014 made the rounds online, she announced she would step down.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was not able to view the now-deleted tweets, but screenshots of Khan’s comments showed she referred to Israel as a “sinister state” and said the country is full of "child murderers."
Khan, a British beauty blogger, model and co-founder of Ardere Cosmetics, was recognized for becoming the first hijab-wearing model to star in a hair campaign for a major international brand last week.
Amena Khan was chosen by @LOrealParisUK to model for the company’s newest hair product campaign. However, a search of Khan’s Twitter account raises questions about the appropriateness of making her the face of the new campaign. Khan frequently espouses anti-Israel views. pic.twitter.com/ynMQ7dfjXJ
— Aisha Murtad (@UmmAlMumineen) January 19, 2018
On Monday, she shared a statement with her more than 570,000 Instagram followers and wrote, "I recently took part in a campaign, which excited me because it celebrated inclusivity. With deep regret, I've 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."
» RELATED: Some Muslim women afraid to wear the hijab since Trump's election
Khan penned a second post Wednesday “to clarify” any misunderstandings.
“I stand by, grieve for and am outraged by the suffering of children whether they’re victims of war or any other type of abuse,” she wrote. “My choice of words in the 2014 tweets could have been worded better as I know there was genuine hurt in a community that I sounded like I was generalizing.”
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The reaction to Khan’s stepping down has been mixed as some Twitter users were frustrated that she apologized in the first place.
A British Muslim woman has been hounded out from an ad campaign for being critical of Israel. So criticising countries is racist now?
— Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) January 22, 2018
Where are those defenders of free speech now? 🙄https://t.co/7Vglcb7nDs
Amena Khan, the Muslim model who was sponsored by L’Oreal, was made to step down after her 2014 tweets criticizing Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza went viral and caused an uproar. I’m not sure why she apologized. L’Oréal should be apologizing.
— Oraynab Jwayyed (@oraynabj) January 23, 2018
Amena has stepped down from the L'Oréal campaign after her old tweets criticizing Israel were unearthed.
— Media Diversified (@WritersofColour) January 22, 2018
-another situation where women of colour are good enough to front a campaign.. until they have an opinion.
Then all hell breaks loose. https://t.co/KstXcapEaN
Journalist Areeb Ullah compared Khan to actress Gal Gadot, who has openly supported Israel’s war in Gaza.
Notice the double standard.
— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) January 22, 2018
Gal Gadot: Ex Israeli soldier who openly supported the IDF's 2014 war in Gaza that killed 2,200 Palestinians. Not forced to apologise
Amena Khan: Muslim woman who tweeted support for Palestinian children killed in Gaza 2014. Forced to apologise.
Ullah also noted that in 2014, the United Nations death toll during that war left 1,462 Palestinian civilians, including 495 children and 253 women, dead.
Khan’s announcement comes just one week after she revealed she was to be a part of the L’Oreal Paris hair care campaign.
In an interview with Vogue UK last Sunday, Khan lauded the European brand for its commitment to inclusion. "They're literally putting a girl in a headscarf — whose hair you can't see — in a hair campaign ... because what they're really valuing through the campaign is the voices that we have," Khan said.
"You have to wonder – why is it presumed that women that don't show their hair don't look after it?" she said. "The opposite of that would be that everyone that does show their hair only looks after it for the sake of showing it to others. And that mindset strips us of our autonomy and our sense of independence. Hair is a big part of self-care.”
On Twitter, L’Oreal and Khan received their share of praise and backlash.
Credit: YouTube/L'Oreal UK
Credit: YouTube/L'Oreal UK
Great @lorealparis ad about acknowledging that women in hijab also care about their hair... and that there special products they need from serums to special clips... @Loreal https://t.co/lszxwyvqQi
— Muna AbuSulayman منى (@abusulayman) January 18, 2018
Love that @amenaofficial is representing us hijabis. Yes, we do wash our hair. No, we don't shower with it on. No, we don't shave our heads. Some of us are Rapunzel under this hijab and we love a decent shampoo! #hijab #Sisterhood
— Khadijah Hayley (@Khadalina) January 17, 2018
Guys I've just watched @amenaofficial's L'Oreal hair advert. I'm in tears, I love it. This is amazing for a muslim woman who wears a headscarf to be on an advert for HAIR, like girl yes we also want to be represented and have hair products to suit our needs. This is beautiful <3
— R (@Ralliikhan) January 18, 2018
Amazing campaign by Loreal! So HAPPY to see my gal @amenaofficial on a hair commercial. Very empowering😌 💕💕 I get asked a lot why I spend so much on hair care if nobody sees my hair. Well I SEE my hair. Isn't that a good enough reason? https://t.co/TqlebHV6R9
— Jayyida Badhry (@jayyida) January 19, 2018
» RELATED: Muslim Gwinnett teacher told to 'hang yourself' with her headscarf
The campaign reignited a controversial discussion about the hijab, with many arguing the garment promotes oppression of women.
Hey @Loreal @LOrealParisUK you're promoting an oppressive garment.
— Mark (@Marky_Mark1259) January 18, 2018
You're a disgrace.
Look at Muslim women fighting for the right *NOT* to wear hijab under an Islamic theocracy.
You're promoting oppression and so-called "modesty" to girls and women. https://t.co/SFhN94ecJX
@Loreal model sports a hijab... so the oppression of women is what your company backs now? No more loreal products in my home. https://t.co/xFWmfgPgMX
— Paige (@PaigeElizeb) January 19, 2018
I guess you never saw the picture of the Iranian women ripping off her #Hijab to show freedom. I’ll never buy @Loreal again. https://t.co/6JT109Rms8
— SeldenGADawgs (@SeldenGADawgs) January 19, 2018
SOME women are stoned for not wearing them. Amena Khan looks beautiful, strong and confident. I don’t think L’Oréal were trying to be “funny” as @Loobona said. I think they were being inclusive and showing regardless of race, colour and size, all women are beautiful.
— Savannah (@Savannah_JH92) January 18, 2018
» RELATED: Muslims in America, by the numbers
Last March, when Nike announced its new sports hijab, many Muslim women defended their choice to wear the hijab.
The hijab is not about 'oppression of women'. If a woman chooses to wear it and be amazing at her sport, why should anyone care? #nikehijab pic.twitter.com/eb3kB223vr
— Jasmine (@whole_hopefull) March 15, 2017
Muslim feminist Hanna Yusuf has also addressed critics of the hijab in the past and said that wearing hers is a feminist statement.
"In a world where a woman's value is often reduced to her sexual allure, what could be more empowering than rejecting that notion?" she said in a video for The Guardian.
But, Yusuf said, her concern with the hijab being unfairly portrayed as oppression is not a denial of the fact that some women are forced to wear it in some parts of the world.
» RELATED: Mattel announces Ibtihaj Muhammad doll, the first Barbie to wear a hijab
Still, some users felt that including a hijab-wearing model to promote hair products was “#pointless” or was just a company attempt to make a statement.
L’Oréal using the hijab to promote hair products, is like Neutrogena using gloves to promote hand cream 🤦🏽♂️#Loreal #hijab #pointless pic.twitter.com/z7rJIFCRPP
— Liam Tuffs (@TuffsLiam) January 18, 2018
I agree, hijab wearers have needs and in most cases take better care of their hair, but I think the ad is trying to put out a statement, not selling a product.
— Abeer Mishkhas (@Abeer1_mishkhas) January 19, 2018
» RELATED: UN votes to condemn US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital
Khan was also criticized for some of her previous tweets, in which she referred to Israel as a "sinister state." Those tweets have since been deleted.
Amena Khan was chosen by @LOrealParisUK to model for the company’s newest hair product campaign. However, a search of Khan’s Twitter account raises questions about the appropriateness of making her the face of the new campaign. Khan frequently espouses anti-Israel views. pic.twitter.com/ynMQ7dfjXJ
— Aisha Murtad (@UmmAlMumineen) January 19, 2018
For reference, President Donald Trump recently recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which the United Nations voted to condemn.
For decades, the U.S. has remained silent on the issue amid warnings from world leaders concerned that such a declaration "could inflame tensions in the volatile Mideast," the New York Times reported. The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967, for their capital.
More about the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
