“John is a tremendous artist with great personal vision and direction…”
Jo Malone has apologised to John Boyega for cutting him out an advert he helped create.
The fragrance brand removed Star Wars actor Boyega from the Chinese version of their ad, replacing him with actor Liu Haoran.
The original ad featured Boyega walking around his native Peckham, discussing his life and his Nigerian heritage. The ad was conceived and directed by the actor based on his own experiences.
Boyega was entirely replaced by Haoran in the Chinese version of the ad, a move that Jo Malone has since apologised for.
“We deeply apologise for what, on our end, was a mistake in the local execution of the John Boyega campaign,” they said in a statement.
“John is a tremendous artist with great personal vision and direction. The concept for the film was based on John’s personal experiences and should not have been replicated.
“We respect John, and support our partners and fans globally. We are taking this misstep very seriously and we are working together as a brand to do better moving forward.”
This isn’t the first time that the actor, who rose to fame due to his work in the Star Wars franchise, has experienced racial erasure.
Following the films’ releases in China, Boyega was either entirely removed from posters or demoted to a background character, despite being one of the movies’ stars.
Boyega made headlines again earlier this summer due to his prominence in the Black Lives Matter protests.
“This is an intense time for our community, and the most important thing is for us to maintain momentum and not lose sight of how critical it is to pursue long term solutions and commitments, for the sake of our generation, and the next,” he said at the time.
“Our individual pursuits of success and belonging remain, but now more than ever, it’s important to use this movement as fuel to inspire new ways of thinking, building, and growing, together.”
You can watch the original Jo Malone ad here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbMantzNr3U
